Page 1328 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 12 May 2021
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I will be in New Zealand, COVID willing, later this month to engage with my counterparts in Wellington and Auckland, the relevant key industry stakeholders, national and city government colleagues to seek to put a package to the airlines to develop a mutually beneficial transport connection between New Zealand and Canberra. We have made this connection before, and the circumstances are right with an Australian-New Zealand travel bubble and availability of aircraft to be able to do this again. I look forward to undertaking that work and, hopefully, getting a successful outcome and positive response from the aviation industry and my counterparts in New Zealand over the coming weeks and months.
The arts and creative industries are clearly linked to our visitor economy and play an important role in bringing the community together. Minister Cheyne has recently launched the ACT’s creative industries plan. The ACT government has partnered with the University of Canberra to position our city as a hub for collaboration in this industry. Those working in the creative sector have undoubtably felt the devastating impacts of the pandemic, with the cancellation and deferment of pretty much all activity. The government has responded with an increased grants funding to support the sector. Canberra’s public and private event organisers and creatives have demonstrated innovation and resilience in adapting exhibitions, performances, and a range of other activities in a COVID-safe manner. Last year’s Floriade Reimagined is a great example of such adaptation—how we can turn one of our most cherished tourism and community events into something that further inspired and connected Canberrans whilst ensuring the health and safety of our community.
Clearly, attendance data and flow-on economic benefits were not able to be tracked in 2020 in the same way as the past, due to the changed format. We know the significance of this event at this time of year for our city. Floriade 2019 attracted a record 507,550 people through the turnstiles at Commonwealth Park, providing an estimated $44.7 million in economic expenditure in our economy that supported jobs, fuelled local tourism, hospitality and retail businesses. As I have mentioned publicly more than a few times, planning for this year’s Floriade is well underway. We look forward to seeing this premier tourism event returning to Commonwealth Park whilst also retaining many of the very popular elements of the community planting program from 2020.
The ACT’s track record of managing the pandemic has enabled us to step up and support elite sporting events. Indeed, were it not for Canberra and our investment in Manuka Oval, including those lights, we would not have been in a position to have rescued the Big Bash and a number of international fixtures. Canberra staged more professional cricket matches over the summer of 2020-21 than at any time in our city’s history.
I observed at the time that we did not need further reinforcement of what a good investment our investment in Manuka Oval has been. But, if you absolutely wanted proof of it, it is now the reality that our city is able to host these sorts of national and international events, and Canberra is no longer excluded from our nation’s greatest summer sporting passion, being cricket. Even those who are a little bit less supportive of AFL begrudgingly acknowledge that the symbolic and symbiotic relationship
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