South Australia's iconic aesthetics inform new Qantas business class lounge at Adelaide Airport
From the curve and shape of the Flinders Ranges to the stark beauty of Kangaroo Island, iconic South Australian aesthetics dominate the new Qantas business class lounge at Adelaide Airport.
Culinary legend Maggie Beer, speaking with NewsWire at the airport on Thursday, said the new lounge had 'raised the bar' and would present travellers with the best of South Australia.
'I love the vibrancy, the open space, the feeling of how grown up this place is, as Adelaide is,' she said.
'There is nowhere else like Adelaide and South Australia.'
Chef Neil Perry crafted the menu at the lounge, with the city's iconic Central Market a key influence.
Ms Beer's produce will also feature.
Qantas Group chief executive Qantas International Cam Wallace said the lounge would offer business travellers a 'premium in-flight experience.'
'For the millions of customers that visit our lounges, we know just how important it is to have a premium pre-flight experience and we're so pleased to be bringing this to Adelaide today,' he said.
'The new lounge has been designed based off feedback and the features we know our customers' value the most.'
The 1016 sqm lounge can accommodate 190 customers.
It features locally sourced furniture, lighting and natural materials.
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ABC News
19 hours ago
- ABC News
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre could be filling at a scale not witnessed in living memory bringing life to those at its edge
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre could be filling at a scale not witnessed in living memory. Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is quickly filling with water. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) So we expected to see the South Australian outback come alive, but not like this. 7.30 cameraman Carl Saville filming in the dust storm. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Carl Saville out in the dust storm. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Carl Saville back in the car, covered in dust. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Turbulent winds whipped up clouds of desert dust — plumes so thick and winds so wild they consumed the blink-blink of our hazard lights and dulled the brights of our high beams. Ochre grit rolled across roads, spewing into the sky before drizzling down over a patch of Central Australia we were hoping, needing, to remain clear. With zero control over the timing of either phenomenon — the storm or the floodwater — we hedged our bets and pressed north, past monumental ranges and arid ashen landscapes, until a town appeared where the bitumen ended. "People think, 'Why would you have a pub way out here?'" laughs Maria van Wegen, owner of the Marree Hotel. The Marree Hotel in Marree, South Australia. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) An old train carriage in Marree. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) A street in Marree. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Marree's Outback Roadhouse and General Store. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Her establishment is almost as old as the settlement of Marree itself — a former railway town — population 60, plus tourists — considered one of the most accessible gateways to Australia's remote outback. "We're perfectly located at the junction of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Tracks and so close to Kati Thanda, and there's a lot of history here," Maria tells us. "Mostly because of the Afghan cameleers and the railways being essential for transporting cattle to Adelaide. Maria van Wegen says pubs like the Marree Hotel are integral in small rural communities like Marree. ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) "Pubs like ours are just so integral in a community like this. "If anything happens — ring the pub. You want to know anything — ring the pub!" Lake Eyre from the air Want to see the sights and need a plane? Ring the pub. The airport was flash, by bush standards, and busy — a neat strip of tarmac; an adjacent dirt car-park full of four-by-fours and tourist buses. It had a tidy demountable with a flushing toilet — complete with the soundtrack of several small aircraft buzzing around and overhead. Planes at Marree airport. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Cars parked at Marree airport. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Travellers queue at Marree airport. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) In a town this size it came as no surprise Maria's husband is also the go-to pilot-cum-tour guide. We found Arid Air's Phil van Wegen at the edge of the tarmac, corralling a wild flock of outback nomads on the same pilgrimage as us. Anticipation emanated from the travellers as they were ushered into their respective fixed-wings, while our troupe packed into a six-seater. Pilot Phil van Wegen says Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is "the most amazing natural irrigation system that you'll ever see". ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Within minutes we were airborne. "The whole region is massive, it all makes you feel insignificant," Phil says, as he pulls the Cessna up to 1500 feet. We cross the Flinders Ranges on the way to the lake. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) At this altitude it was clear to see the desert dust we endured the day prior, like us, it had driven itself deeper into the interior, riding the nose of a cold front. While Phil was worried about the imposition for us out-of-towners, the haze possibly improved the view — softening the morning light as it bounced off the colossal dunes, dried claypans, and the striking Flinders Ranges. Mystery surrounds who created the giant Marree Man. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Over the Strzelecki Desert, and past the mysterious 'Marree Man', the mulga, spinifex and Mitchell grass soon gave way to an expanse of salt. The southern reaches of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre will only fill in a once-in-a-lifetime event. Salt in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Salt in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Salt in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Salt in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) Salt in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) The dramatic colours of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "At the moment this whole basin, the Diamantina and the Cooper, has a lot of water in it, so if we get another big rain event next year it could be bigger than this year," Phil says enthusiastically, on approach to the lake's northern section. Suddenly it seemed as if there were two suns, the earth mirroring the sky. The sun reflecting off Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "This is Lake Eyre North," we were informed, "144km in length north to south, 77km east to west," Phil explains. "The interesting thing is it's capturing approximately six per cent of Australia's run-off water, it's a huge catchment." "It's a huge dispersal, it's just the most amazing natural irrigation system that you'll ever see." By Phil's estimation the northern section is around 80 to 85 per cent covered. Water filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Water filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) Water filling Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Water and sky combine for stunning visual But despite my asking, he's unwilling to estimate the volume of water within. At its edge, the head water moves at a "gentle walking pace", we're told, "and probably only around ankle-deep." In parts the lake will get several metres deep — while also containing the lowest point in mainland Australia –15.2 metres below sea level. Our Cessna climbs to 2000 feet, an attempt at fielding a broader prospective. Here, you can see the earth's curvature, but you can't see where the enormous body of water ends, and the sky begins. The only place to see Kati Thanda in its entirety, is from space. Scientists believe it formed approximately 200 million years ago, a Pangean oasis surrounded by dense forest and wildlife, fed by a monumental dispersal system of braided channels and flood-plains. Much of the water arriving here has travelled hundreds of kilometres through Channel Country after ravaging western Queensland several months ago. Water running towards Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Water running towards Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "You feel for those guys, there's been a lot of devastation up north because they've been hit so quickly, but you'd hope on the rebound the country's irrigated and going to do well for a while," Phil says. "We know we're lucky down here, because we get notice of a flood — we get time to get out of the way. They don't get that in western Queensland." Where 'magic' happens To the east of Kati Thanda, at the edge of Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park, is one of the most famous regions in remote Australia, home to some of the biggest pastoral stations in the world. Trees submerged in floodwater running towards Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) On the sodden banks of the Diamantina, we meet the dry-humoured desert ranger, Don Rowlands. The environment around him, usually dusty, red, and arid, is now surging with life — rivers are coursing across cracked floodplains, native fish dart through newly formed channels, and thousands of pelicans soar overhead. Even the air feels more alive. "We haven't learned yet to eat flies," he jokes "but I'm thinking we should learn soon because there's plenty of them." Ranger Don Rowlands says seeing the floodwaters bring the area back to life is "just magic". ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) Don's a descendant of the Watti Watti family and a Wangkangurru Yarluyandi Elder who recalls a fun childhood catching yabbies and yellow bellies, golden perch, "by the tonne". "I've been here all my life, lived here on the river with my family back in the 1940s and 50s, I've been here a long time and used the river for all the resources," he told us, sharing his memories of the "three big floods" — 1950, 1974, and this year. "Mate, in the water, out on the land — everything comes back to life — that's just how this country is, it's just wonderful to see nature spring out of the ground. Don Rowlands at Lake Machettie after another flood a few years back. ( Supplied: David Sproule ) "These flood events, it's the same as what my people did thousands of years ago, the reason they had rainmakers and rain dances was to create seasons such as this, to replenish all their resources. "It's just magic, and I can see my people walking through this country having the time of their life, it just keeps repeating itself and I hope I'm here for many more." While flooding in Channel Country is common, this event is bigger than usual. ( ABC News: Carl Saville ) The biggest township in the area is Birdsville, a well-known destination for tourists coming by road or air, often for drawcard events like the Big Red Bash. "Our bar is just 30 metres from the runway," says Ben Fullagar, the Birdsville Hotel's manager, who landed at the pub for a three-month shift 13 years ago. "In Channel Country floods are pretty normal, this one is just a bit bigger than what we're used to seeing. "It's a big positive for pastoralists, and it's a huge positive for outback tourism. Ben Fullagar is the manager at the Birdsville Hotel. ( ABC Western Queensland: Craig Fitzsimmons ) The Birsdsville Hotel in Queensland. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) A street in Birdsville, Queensland. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "It's taken a bit to get back into gear since COVID, and situations like this, with this kind of flooding, is a huge positive for the industry." But at this time of year, he concedes, it is quieter than usual, worried there are misconceptions that Birdsville, and many bush tourism towns, were washed away. "I mean whoever surveyed Birdsville back in 1800s did a fantastic job, because water has never been into the town, it just goes straight past us and marches straight into the lake," he said. "I guess the message is, we're open for business. We didn't get our feet wet, the roads are reopening very quickly, far quicker than anticipated, and there's no better year to see the lake and the region than this year." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
With a 'direct ear' to the treasurer, have police outranked paramedics as the SA government's top priority?
"Having the direct ear of the treasurer certainly is an advantage for me as a chief executive and it's my job to make sure I exploit that." One day after the South Australian government handed down a budget with law and order as its centrepiece, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens smiled as he summed up the fortuitous position he finds himself in, just nine months out from the next state election. "It's one of those few occasions where we have a senior cabinet minister as the minister for police," he told reporters. "I'm grateful for that level of focus that the government is putting on law and order and policing in South Australia." Mr Stevens was referring to Stephen Mullighan — a long-serving Labor cabinet minister who happens to not only be police minister, but treasurer too. Having a cabinet boss who is also in charge of government spending gives Mr Stevens a unique opportunity to wield influence, and the latest state budget could be seen as a case in point. Hundreds of millions of dollars for more police officers, firearms and infrastructure formed part of what Mr Mullighan described as "the largest boost to police funding in the state's history". As ABC News previously noted, there was no mistaking the budget message the government was trying to send, with photos of police officers splashed across the budget papers and projected onto screens around the budget lock-up room. But turn the clock back three years, and the government was keen to spruik a different kind of frontline worker, whose presence was keenly felt at the last state election, and whose absence from the latest budget front-page raises questions about the government's priorities going forward. "Labor will fix the ramping crisis." It was an election mandate that brought the party to government in March 2022, and which has since become an annoying itch for MPs forced to defend the government's progress. When the Malinauskas government handed down its first budget in June 2022, a photo of a nurse, paramedic and doctor graced the front-page — a nod to the $2.4 billion in health spending budgeted that year. But in 2025, ramping remains high. Ambulances spent 3,700 hours waiting outside emergency departments in April, a decrease on the month before but still much higher than the worst month under the previous government. Despite the government's latest budget tipping an additional $1.9 billion into the health system over the next five years — $1.7 billion of which is just to address increasing demand — health unions were not too pleased. "This budget is strong on crime but soft on health," Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation CEO Elizabeth Dabars said. "We know that they've put additional investment into health, but the reality is that the demands in the system on nurses and midwives are far too great to endure." Paramedics were equally scathing. "It is inconceivable that we are nine months out from the next election, and the government that promised our community that it would fix the ramping crisis, has not budgeted for any additional ambulance resourcing, or to address ramping and response times," Ambulance Employees Association general secretary Paul Ekkelboom said. "The best this government can do is reframe the narrative away from ramping, and abandon on its commitments to the people of South Australia." But Premier Peter Malinauskas said health remained one of the government's top priorities, and budgeted spending on health eclipsed spending on police. "Let's take nurses for instance: We committed at the last election that we would employ an extra 300 nurses. We've smashed those numbers out of the park by the tune of many, many hundreds," he told ABC News Stateline. "Similarly with doctors, we said we'd employ an extra 100 doctors into our system over the life of our time in government. Last year alone, we increased it by over 300 over and above attrition." When questioned on his progress on "fixing the ramping crisis", Mr Malinauskas pointed to ambulance response times. "They're rolling up to triple-0 calls on time and that is the difference between life and death," he said. "We have made inroads (in fixing the ramping crisis), notwithstanding the fact that clearly, we still would like to see ramping improve. "As those new beds come online that we've invested in so heavily and quite dramatically — and there are hundreds coming online over the next couple of years — we hope it improves." So, if health is still a priority for the government, what has prompted it to deliver a budget so heavily focused on law and order — especially when overall crime rates have dropped across the state? According to Mr Malinauskas, SA Police has a "genuine need" for more resources. "They've seen demand grow not in crime in the traditional sense and how we might think of it, but more through the burden of increasing demands around domestic violence responses … also with call-outs to mental health cases," he said. "We've seen that demand grow and we've also got a growing population. "We haven't had that big uplift in police numbers in our state now for quite a long period of time." "Tough on crime" policies are considered politically popular, but Mr Malinauskas denied crime would become an election focus for his government. "I'd much rather have elections focused on other matters — education for instance, rather than crime — but that doesn't mean there isn't a need that we have a responsibility to address." But that is also the case for the health system, which continues to struggle through ambulance ramping and bed block. Without a "direct ear" to the treasurer, it is yet to be seen whether doctors, nurses and paramedics will receive the same level of attention from Labor in the months leading up to March 2026, as they did ahead of the last state election.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
Tiny SA town buys disused primary school for $1.10, transforms it into op shop
If you have travelled along South Australia's Mallee Highway, there is a good chance you have driven past the tiny township of Geranium. Standing on the sleepy main street, there are remnants of what used to be a vibrant and bustling primary school. But beyond the bitumen road and through weathered school gates, a resident is putting smiles on people's faces one clothing rack at a time through her new opportunity shop. Set to the sound of a crackly Neil Diamond record, local of 40 years Marg Smith has made it her mission to turn sadness into spirit and help Geranium blossom once again. When Geranium Primary School closed its doors three years ago due to dwindling enrolment numbers, it shut a century-old chapter for the region. What was once a busy country town with one of the state's largest area schools now has a population of just over 80 residents. "My husband and our five children all went to school here, and I was [working] here when it closed, so it was tough." But through the hardships, Ms Smith has reinvigorated the space and turned an old design and tech room into a welcoming place for all. "The primary school was transferred to the community for $1.10 as an in-kind gesture from the state government … I think the 10 cents was for GST," Ms Smith chuckled. Since opening its doors just over a month ago, the store has welcomed people from far and wide. Interstate traveller Annette Swaby stumbled across the store accidentally. "We were travelling from Murray Bridge back home to Bairnsdale, Victoria when we came across the Geranium Op Shop," she said. "The people here are so friendly and nice, and it has been so delightful." Pinnaroo local Rita Francis travelled to Geranium for a special visit. After chatting with Ms Smith, the two women soon realised they had both grown up in the same village in Papua New Guinea. "How's that!" Ms Smith gasped. "I always used to love going to op shops because you just never knew what you might find, and now here in Geranium, you don't know who's going to walk through the door. While most of the money raised for the store will go towards facility maintenance and helping grow the community hub, Ms Smith hopes she can also donate funds to causes close to her heart. Ms Smith hopes the op shop will continue to lift up the community even as the town's numbers dwindle. "[The] primary school was once the focal place for Geranium, and now it's coming around full circle," she said. "I think we're a gem and a treasure. "We are small and we're getting smaller but just like Dr Seuss says, 'A person's a person, no matter how small' and so I think a community is a community, no matter how small."
