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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 9 Hansard (23 November) . . Page.. 2435 ..

Proposed expenditure - Division 70 - Canberra Tourism, $4,899,600

MR WOOD (9.02): Mr Speaker, this is another of those areas where there has been a sleight of hand. There is a claim for an additional $5m worth of promotional material, promotion for ACT tourism. Time will show that that money will not be spent. We have seen expensive, and I think highly justified, preparation of television advertising material. In his reply the Minister might tell us how much advertising has actually been screened on television sets in Sydney as a result of that. It would be interesting to hear just how much has been put to air so far.

Mr De Domenico: Nothing yet, until the ads are finished properly, Mr Wood. You cannot put them on air until they are finished.

MR WOOD: It is taking a long time. Courtesy of Mr De Domenico, I saw the mock-up three months ago or something.

Mr De Domenico: It takes a while to do it properly.

MR WOOD: Granted. Let us see how much money goes into that sort of advertising, because that was a very carefully designed approach, with which I agree, to target Sydney. The Chief Minister wants to pass off little buckets of money now to some overseas promotion, and that is probably all right; but it would be interesting to know whether that is in accord with the views of Tourism ACT, which seems to have a strategy to target Sydney. This is another one of those issues where the money is claimed to be there, but time will show a different story.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Proposed expenditure - Division 140 - Arts and Heritage, $9,735,400

MR WOOD (9.04): Let me say that there is certainly a consistency in this budget. Mr Humphries promised $3m over three years, and let me concede to Mr Humphries that he has provided additional money. But the amount of money additional, again, is not in keeping with his election promise. If this document were a prospectus in the private sector, the Government would be taken and charged, because it is simply inaccurate. Mr Humphries, like Mr De Domenico, hands out his expenditure with capital expenditure - half a million dollars worth for the Canberra Theatre. I do not recall, when I was Minister, taking that sort of step and trying to say that this was increased funding. That was always in the capital works program, and we spent a lot money on the Canberra Theatre.

Mr Humphries has over $800,000 from the Health Promotion Fund, and I applaud that. Mr Humphries, let me tell you that I believe that there is an increase there, but you should also go and check what amount of money has been coming from the Health Promotion Fund in recent years for cultural activity.

Mrs Carnell: Not $865,000.

MR WOOD: It is not of that order.

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