Page 4919 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (5.33): Mrs Nolan made some points relating to the tourism part of this program. I think it is fair enough to say that these issues have been debated several times, and I take very seriously Mrs Nolan's concern for this industry. Nevertheless, there are a couple of points that I want to make.
The first is that I believe that the restructuring of the Tourism Commission that has been undertaken will lead to much better outcomes for tourism in the ACT than would otherwise have been the case. I regret that we did not have sufficient money available to us to continue to provide the $1m of so-called one-off funding which the commission had enjoyed for the previous two years. Nevertheless, I think that the budget reduction that they have received has perhaps escalated a process of reform and streamlining that was already in place and that that will lead to a very good marketing effort from the Tourism Commission.
I have been very much encouraged by a letter which I have received recently from the chairman of the commission, Mr Brown. It is a report on progress. Mr Brown says in his letter, under the heading "Marketing Budget": "The Commission has instituted a range of significant cost savings measures that will enable it to spend a minimum of $1.6m on marketing in 1991-92". I find that very encouraging. That is what they spent last year - about $1.6m. So, even at this early stage in their streamlining efforts, they are able to advise me that they will be spending a minimum of $1.6m. I think Mrs Nolan probably is encouraged by that as well.
Mr Collaery made a number of comments about the Economic Development Division. I was surprised at his expressed concern about the division itself, because it is a concern that has not been expressed to me by anyone other than Mr Collaery on either occasion that I have been in government or, indeed, during the period that I was in opposition. In fact, I should say that I find the advice that I get from the division - their imaginativeness, their energy in going out and looking for economic development - to be of a very high standard. I am happy with the work that they do there.
I would also like to refer Mr Collaery to the nine-point plan that we have put into place for increasing development in the ACT, because it does include both the self-help advisory service that Mr Collaery had begun to initiate and, also, the very much restructured advisory committee to me which Mr Collaery, I think, was referring to in his EPAC model. I would like to assure people that that advisory committee will be very high level indeed. It will be drawn
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