Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

On Friday 7 July you couldn't find many parliamentarians—whether from this place or parliaments across our states and territories—not getting involved with a day that many consider to be world chocolate day. Many of us celebrated it in public on social media, and I can point to many notable examples. Many, whether aware of it on the day or not, celebrated the day in private.

The observance of 7 July as world chocolate day appears to date back only to 2009, but some say the origin of the day marked when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550. Some might also say this day was confected, but, given we are talking about confectionery, anything is possible! In fact, in the US they list international chocolate day as 13 September, the birthdate of Milton S Hershey. But I digress.

Here in Australia we have brands like Haigh's, which I'm sure all of us—and our waistlines—are intimately familiar with. A brand founded in my state of South Australia by Alfred E Haigh back in 1915, Haigh's has grown exponentially and now has multiple stores across Australia: in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and even Canberra. This growth has continued, and Haigh's is now expanding its manufacturing arm in Salisbury South, in my electorate of Spence. In Spence we welcome all forms of manufacturing, from defence all the way to chocolate. To that, I simply say: in this case, manufacturing jobs in Adelaide's north never tasted so sweet.

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