Page 2014 - Week 07 - Thursday, 17 June 1993
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A range of other issues are covered in this report in relation to the expansion of Canberra Airport and what needs to apply there. May I say that I am absolutely outraged at the perfidy of the Federal Airports Corporation, who in my view are economic vandals as far as economic development in the ACT is concerned. We have seen a concerted campaign by the Civil Aviation Authority to remove from Canberra Airport our own air traffic control and flog it off to Melbourne, to downgrade the significance of Canberra Airport. Quite frankly, a proposition has been put which promotes Canberra Airport as a focus for substantial economic activity in the ACT and the ACT region. The Federal Airports Corporation's board of management is more interested in promoting its own self-interest over the next five years, in doubling its asset base, as it calls it, as announced in the Australian Financial Review, than in promoting economic activity in the ACT and, dare I say, in other regional centres around Australia. It does not care that its actions are preventing markets from being opened up and opportunities from being availed of. All it cares about is its own bottom line.
That sort of economic rationalist approach to economic development in this country, in my view, is one of the things that have been holding back development of the international tourism industry, in particular, here in the ACT. The Federal Airports Corporation should be resoundingly condemned, not only by every citizen of the ACT but also by every member of the Federal Government. It is a government owned instrumentality. The Federal Airports Corporation occupies a very privileged position, a position of monopoly as far as airport operation around this country is concerned, and from that privileged position it takes deliberate decisions to dampen, to prevent economic activity, in a regional and global sense, in particular areas of Australia. It does it for what I regard as quite selfish and despicable reasons. I believe that, because of the perfidy of the Federal Airports Corporation's board of management, we should take them on, in any venue and at any time we can, and draw to the attention, not only of the people in the ACT and the region but of all Australians, the type of anti-business, anti-development activity that the Federal Airports Corporation have been involved in over recent history.
With those harsh words, I conclude my remarks. Nevertheless, I appreciate the depth of information and support we received from the tourism industry in putting this report together.
MS SZUTY (12.11): I do not wish to talk at length on this report because I believe that the chair, Mr Westende, and Mr Lamont have covered the issues quite extensively. This final report of the Standing Committee on Tourism and ACT Promotion has been a long time in coming before this Assembly. The committee released a discussion paper in November last year, following a call for submissions earlier in the year and a public hearing. In that time, as Mr Lamont has mentioned, the committee has also undertaken two tours of the region - to the Snowy Mountains and the coast during winter last year and to the Snowy Mountains, Cooma, Yass and Tumut in April of this year. Both tours proved to be of considerable value to the committee, and our views on the need to work cooperatively with tourist operators in the region have been strengthened as a result of our liaison with the many people we met. Our discussions culminated in a forum held in April of this year, which helped us refine and clarify our thinking on a number of issues and frame a series of what we feel are worthy recommendations for consideration by the Government and the Assembly.
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