AHA|SA Rallies For Drought Affected Communities

Most people accept that South Australian pubs are the beating heart of their communities.

This was demonstrated in spades on 14 April when The Advertiser and AHA|SA joined forces to present a free Community Lunch at the Peterborough Hotel, where an estimated 1,000 people flocked to the Railway Street party.

We were joined by SA Premier, Hon. Peter Malinauskas, and his cabinet ministers, who announced $1,500 drought relief grants to drought-affected farming families and rural small business owners, delivered through the government’s drought-support package.

Respite

AHA|SA CEO, Anna Moeller, opened the event saying: "We couldn’t bring the rain today. But what we could bring was a bit of respite.

“Resilience, persistence and determination. That is what people in our country towns have. We all see what you're going through. You do it tough. But goodness me, you do it well.”

The Premier also hailed the resilience and determination of South Australia’s farmers and rural communities.

“Do not underestimate how much city folk have a degree of consciousness of the difficulty of the lack of rain and drought at the moment,” he said.

“Thank you for bringing to life the stories of so many people from different backgrounds, but in particular, the power of telling stories from regional South Australia.”

Lion’s Field Sales Director, Jared Shattock, organised the display of the iconic Sheffield Shield and brought along footy legend, Tony Modra, and former Adelaide Oval curator, Les Burdett, to pour beers in the hotel, which delighted hundreds of local sports fans!

“Their eyes light up when I tell them it’s my shout. People just love it. I’m glad we could put a smile on their faces,” said Tony.

Peterborough Hotel

Publican and owner of the Peterborough Hotel, James Phillips, told the story of a local who frequents the front bar most days.

“When the Sheffield Shield was put on the stand he asked me, ‘Is that what I think it is?’”

James took over the hotel in April last year, when he moved from Coffs Harbour NSW with his wife Urnaa and daughter Sophia. Owning a hotel had a been lifelong dream in between working as a FIFO machine fitter in the Pilbara mines.

“There was definitely a time, about six months ago, I thought ‘I’ve done the wrong thing’.

“There just weren’t any people coming through the door, but we’ve come through all right.”

So take a trip to drought affected regions in South Australia, call into the local pub, and show your support for communities doing it tough at the moment.

We thank our amazing corporate partners who contributed to making the day a success!