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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2856 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Specifically, this motion deals with a number of very important points. The first is that the Minister for Tourism made a commitment to industry representatives on Thursday, 13 March this year, to provide up to $1m towards the promotion of Canberra. He made that commitment in front of a large audience of industry representatives. Subsequently, this Government has set aside half a million dollars in this year's budget to deal with the promotion of Canberra. But did it give it to the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation? No, it did not, despite the fact that it had promised that it would be giving it for the promotion of Canberra and would be giving it to the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. That, very clearly, was the intention of the Minister's statement to that audience of industry representatives on that day.

Madam Deputy Speaker, the issue of tourism promotion in this town is a vexed one. There has been debate between this side of the house and the Government side of the house as to what is the best way to deal with tourism promotion and the best way to deal with the tourism promotion budget. We on this side of the house have been very critical about the Government's level of commitment to the funding of tourism promotion and the promotion of Canberra generally in its budgets. The reply we get from the Government side of the house is, "You tell us where you find more money". We can be continuing that debate, but that is not why this motion is before us today. The motion we have before us today deals with an amount of money that the Government already has set aside for tourism promotion. It is already there in the budget. So I hope the Government is not going to be getting up and saying, "You tell us where you find the money", because I have found the money and it even allocated it for me. It has just given it to the wrong place. It has just given it to the wrong area, and it has done so in breach of a very clear promise made by the Minister in relation to tourism promotion.

The tourism industry in Canberra is suffering. The tourism industry in Canberra is doing it hard. It is doing it hard for a large number of reasons, but key amongst them has to be the decision of the Prime Minister not to live in Canberra, not to make the Lodge his principal place of residence. When I go around and talk to tourism operators in Canberra they tell me that business is down because people do not come to Canberra anymore to see Ministers. We are just the national capital. They go to where it already happens in Sydney, and to a lesser extent in Melbourne and Adelaide and all the other State capitals where Ministers are based. They do not come here, and that is having a very severe effect on the tourism industry in Canberra.

This has been confirmed by some statistics, recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed a 10 per cent drop in accommodation takings in the quarter this year compared to the quarter last year. That is a big drop and that is a worry for all members in this place interested in tourism. It should be particularly worrying for the Minister, but the Minister is so often hiding in the hole in his office. He does not come out very often and deal with these complaints. Indeed, he has failed on at least two occasions over the past fortnight to deal with my criticism on this issue. He has refused to debate it. I think we know why he has refused to debate it. He wanted this money to go to the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation, but he failed to deliver for his corporation. We know what happened. The Chief Minister, the Minister for Business, said, "No, I am sorry, Minister Kaine. This is my money and it is staying in my portfolio. The Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation cannot have it". That is a very disappointing response from the Government overall.

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