Page 292 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 May 1989
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between national government organisations and local authorities in marketing Canberra as a tourist destination. But nowhere do I find in there, and I have not heard it from the Labor Party to date, any talk about the unique character of Canberra. There have been many comments made by other people in this regard, it is the critical factor in this debate, and it is why people come to Canberra. It was drawn to the Assembly's attention certainly by Mr Duby, and I strongly support him in that particular idea, and it was also emphasised by Mr Kaine.
Let me also add that one of the things that makes for the unique character of Canberra, and a matter to which attention has not been drawn today, is the people. The people in Canberra are friendly and, with the education that has been talked about, can provide a very special incentive for people who have come to Canberra to encourage others to come here and to come back themselves. I shall expand on that aspect later.
Let me, however, comment on my own experience as a tourist. I have spent about two years of my life as a tourist, which is probably a little longer than most. I started in New Zealand backpacking and hitchhiking, and later I visited Asia, Europe and North America. During that time I visited many different places, and I visited those places and was interested in them for their own unique character.
When I went to London I was interested in Westminster, the Underground, the shopping, Hyde Park, and so on. In Rome I was interested in the Coliseum and in various other attractions that are unique to Rome. I remember the way the traffic moved, with about 30 cars side by side waiting to get across the lights all at once, and with 30 cars going the other way ignoring what the lights were indicating anyway.
There was certain attraction about those things. In Athens, I saw the Acropolis. In Ottawa in winter, I was most interested not only in the snow and ice, but of course skating down the river through Ottawa, and I was interested to visit its parliamentary chambers with their copper roofs and so on. In Mikonos I noted the special character of the island, with its very white buildings, its fishing, and its local people.
In none of those places was I ever tempted to visit a casino. Similarly, when I went to Washington I never thought "Shall I go to a casino?" or something along those lines. Let me emphasise this point. However, I did visit Las Vegas, and I went there specifically to visit several casinos, and that is appropriate when that is the particular area of interest.
But we do not want Canberra necessarily to be a Las Vegas. We do not want that to be the focal point of the character of Canberra. That is a small warning that has been issued by each one of our speakers today, and I would like to emphasise it.
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