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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2857 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

I would like to point out very clearly some comments that were made by Minister Kaine when we set up the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. I think these comments are very important because the Government, I am sure, is going to get up and argue, "No, this money was not just for the promotion of tourism in Canberra. It was for the promotion of business, and sporting and cultural organisations, cultural events, sporting events, as well as for promoting Canberra for business". Well, that is true; it is. That is what the money is for and they are going to say that because of that it should be in the Department of Business. I would like to point out to the Assembly, and particularly to the Chief Minister, some comments that were made by Mr Kaine. They were made in the debate when earlier this year we established the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. Mr Kaine said this:

There is a certain amount of resources being devoted to tourism marketing and the like at the moment, and perhaps there is scope for using those resources better. That is why I see the Tourism and Events Corporation as being a focal point. Resources that are currently being committed to tourism promotion or activities of a similar kind in departments and agencies spread across the whole of the ACT Government can perhaps be better directed if they are all directed through the corporation.

Hear, hear, Minister! That is exactly what should happen, but that is not what has happened on this occasion. Despite the Minister's wishes on this issue and despite the Minister's promise in front of a very large audience of tourism industry representatives in this town, that money did not go to the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. Instead, it is sitting in the Department of Business. It has not been used yet, as far as I know, and I know the industry representatives in this town are not happy. They are not happy, because this Minister has failed to deliver on what is a very important issue, and that is dollars for tourism promotion.

Quite clearly, Mr Kaine knew what he was talking about when he made these comments in the debate on the establishment of the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. He went on, and it got better. Mr Kaine said:

I mentioned the strategy for nature-based tourism. There are resources in the parks and conservation area, run by Mr Humphries, that have been working on tourism-related activities. There are resources in the sport and recreation area that have been devoted to tourism-like activities. By bringing the management of all of those resources together into a single body called the Tourism and Events Corporation, hopefully we can get, to use a World War II expression, a bigger bang for the buck - by putting it all together in one base rather than spreading it thinly across the slice of bread.

Those are not my words, Madam Deputy Speaker; they are the words of the Minister for Tourism.

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