Page 5083 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 27 November 1991
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To lock the commission into the same funding for three years is ridiculous. It would be a considerable reduction in real terms and one the industry could not sustain. The commission must see increased levels of funding over the next few years. As I said previously, the industry is our major employer. It needs to be competitive with other States and the Northern Territory to attract additional visitors to our city, and reduced funding will not achieve this.
I have always supported a statutory authority for the Tourism Commission, similar to three that come to mind - the Western Australian commission, the Northern Territory commission and the New South Wales commission. It is unfortunate that when the commission was set up last year the industry's views were not considered. They also support a statutory authority. Although there are few sitting days left in this Assembly and drafting assistance is difficult to obtain, I hope that I will be able to introduce a Bill at the next sittings to give statutory power to the ACT Tourism Commission and accord our Tourism Commission the appropriate status. The commission must be given that appropriate recognition. As I said, the industry supports a statutory body. I hope that that will be achieved before the end of the year.
In concluding, there are a few other issues I could address, particularly in relation to the appropriateness of scarce marketing dollars. In particular, two campaigns come to mind, and they were referred to in Ms Follett's original statement. They are the Rupert Bunny exhibition and the dinosaurs exhibition. They are both brilliant exhibitions and are very successful and very popular. But they both visit Sydney and Melbourne, the catchment areas for a great number of our visitors. The Rupert Bunny exhibition came from Melbourne and goes to Sydney in February and the dinosaurs exhibition will visit nearly all the States, not only at a capital city level but also at a regional level, and also Auckland. It is my view that, when scarce marketing dollars are available, they could be better utilised promoting something that is unique to Canberra, not similar to what we can view in other cities.
I urge all to recognise the contribution the tourism industry makes, not only in industry payments but in kind. It is that kind that is very often forgotten. I believe that the ACT tourism industry has over many years made a significant contribution to marketing and promotion of this city. It has not always been an easy task for them, but in-kind payments have been quite considerable. Much more could also be said about closer links with sport, the arts and training. We have only to look at the enormous revenue Melbourne is currently raising from Phantom of the Opera.
My final words relate back to the commission and the announcement that at the next session of sittings I will be introducing a Bill that will give statutory power to the Tourism Commission. It will free the commission of bureaucratic control. That is not to say that I do not
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