Page 1427 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 11 May 1994
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He continued:
The Committee believes that private sector development will provide the essence of economic growth for Canberra in the future. International facilities at Canberra Airport will enhance our competitive advantage in developing the ACT's private sector and add value as the National Capital and the home of Federal Government.
May I reiterate what I said before: Tourism is our biggest industry and we do not have a great deal of commercial infrastructure in this town. We are fairly limited. We do not have many large factory facilities and supports. He went further and said:
International facilities developed at Canberra Airport would also facilitate the following opportunities, which are directly related to the 2000 Games.
. As the home of the Australian Institute of Sport, many athletes and international sporting organisations will want to come to Canberra to access AIS training and support facilities in the years and months preceding the Games.
. With 80 per cent of all accommodation in Sydney during the 2000 Games booked for the Olympic family, Canberra is ideally placed to provide accommodation for visitors for the Olympic Games, particularly as visitors will not be attending the Olympics every day.
. The increased international exposure created as a result of the 2000 Games will profile Australian industry, sport and expertise and attract business and tourism.
During our inquiry the inbound tour operators made it quite plain to us that the best way to attract international visitors is to have direct flights.
Let us now consider other cities. Darwin, a city of some 65,000 people, has had an international airport for a number of years. Nine international airlines are using its airport. Cairns, a city with fewer than 65,000 people and with a catchment area in the whole of northern Queensland of only 170,000, has had, since 1988, an international airport which operates on a 24-hour basis, services seven international airlines, and has 55 flight arrivals per week. Why should not Canberra, with a population of 300,000, or half a million counting the region, have an international airport? After all, it is one of three national capitals in the world that do not have an international airport. (Extension of time not granted)
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