Page 5864 - Week 18 - Wednesday, 11 December 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Speaker, that at least that has been rectified now. I acknowledge the Chief Minister for achieving that and at least putting the portfolio into the economic development area, where it rightly should have been.
When the commission was announced it was stated by the then Minister that the commission would bring a new professionalism into the promotion of Canberra. The Minister went on to say that the commission would have a greater flexibility in the way that it operated than its predecessor and it would bring commercial expertise to help it readily respond to market demands. Mr Speaker, it is no criticism of any individuals in the current structure; however, the industry cannot work effectively under bureaucratic control. Nothing has changed.
During the pilots strike it was shown by some State commissions around Australia that the most essential ingredient for good marketing and tourism promotion was the ability to react quickly to changed circumstances. We in the ACT during that strike did not react quickly enough to our changed circumstances, and in my view a much stronger focus needed to be placed on regional attraction, in particular, Sydney's western suburbs, which are only three hours away from Canberra by car.
Several years later a similar problem still occurs. Forward bookings are not healthy for the great majority of accommodation properties for January, and traditionally January has always been a very busy period. It is a school holiday period; it is the Christmas period when people take holidays.
It is unfortunate that a decision has been taken by government bureaucrats that another Tourism Commission meeting should not be necessary until January. That further concerns the industry. They say that the December meeting had been forgone as the move for the commission staff to the CBS Tower is now more important. What a nonsense! There is a problem and it must be solved quickly. The solution, clearly, Mr Speaker, is a statutory authority which will then have a clear brief and its own financial and administrative responsibilities. An industry that employs over 8,000 people and contributes over $450m annually must be given a sound foundation and be responsible for its decisions.
The Bill I place before you today does exactly that. This Bill has the support of the tourism industry. It has the support of the Canberra Business Council and the Canberra Visitor and Convention Bureau, and recognition that it is essential. I am sure, Mr Speaker, that any legislation that has that level of support also must have a similar level of support from the members of this Assembly. The most recent call for a statutory authority came only last month, November, when the Canberra Business Council called on the Follett Government to establish the authority.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .