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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (8 April) . . Page.. 665 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

within limitations imposed by our natural environment. We cannot afford to take and not give back. With over 1.5 million visitors to the ACT each year, careful environmental management is essential. The negative environmental impacts of tourism include water, noise, air and visual pollution - for example, the futsal stadium - waste disposal problems, ecological disruption and land use problems. The extensive travel that is often associated with tourism opens up another whole debate as well, of course; but I will not go into that today.

The Government, supported by industry, has put forward this Bill to create a Canberra tourism and events statutory corporation as a mechanism for increasing the flexibility of the industry and enhancing the delivery of tourism marketing services. The Greens do not see why this legislation is particularly necessary or desirable. I note what Simon Corbell said, and I would agree with a lot of the sentiments he expressed. However, as the legislation is going to be passed, it is important that our amendments are supported, because they will actually enshrine in legislation consideration for the environment in tourism management and will also, of course, bring greater accountability into this Bill. I am glad to have the support of other members for those amendments.

As the past Minister for Tourism stated in his presentation speech for this Bill, the powers of the statutory authority are limited by the statutory provisions in this Bill. These limitations relate to the employment powers of the Public Sector Management Act, the provisions of the Financial Management Act and the requirement to have a detailed business plan. Giving more flexibility to the Tourism Corporation could, in our opinion, lead to less accountability for environmental protection. We were particularly concerned to see that no mention has been made of the need for the corporation to incorporate issues of environmental sustainability into the business planning, marketing and provision of advice to the industry. We have already seen tourism events being given a priority of use in some environmentally sensitive areas in the ACT. This should not be happening and must not happen in the future.

Obviously, the Greens are concerned to ensure that tourism activities do not damage our natural environment. Nature-based tourism does offer some potential for expanding tourism in the ACT if it is very carefully planned. The Tasmanian Greens have demonstrated to Australia what benefits can flow from careful preservation of natural environments rather than destroying them. The Government has recently released a report on a nature-based tourism strategy in the ACT, titled Promoting the Natural Capital. It is pleasing that the Government is recognising the need for management of tourism in natural areas. This document does have some flaws. For example, a strategy for nature-based tourism must be closely linked to a management plan for Canberra Nature Park, the Murrumbidgee Corridor or the existing Namadgi management plan. Another important issue is that of making sure that planning for nature-based tourism is site specific. There will be quite different environmental issues to be taken into account within a reserve or nature conservation area. For example, Ginini Flats is much more sensitive than the outer edges of Namadgi National Park.

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