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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2869 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

Here is a choice quote from it. Mr Kaine claimed in his prepared speech that the Government has a coordinated approach to marketing Canberra. A coordinated approach? A little bit of money here, a little bit of money there. We have set up a new Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation which, according to Mr Kaine on 8 April, is going to bring together all the little bits of money from all the different places into one place, so that we can have a coordinated approach. Then a month later his Chief Minister brings down a budget which puts another little bit of money somewhere outside the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. So much for the coordinated approach, Mr Kaine. It lasted less than a month. It is not surprising that Mr Kaine needed to read from a prepared speech, because otherwise he would not have been able to find it in himself to describe the Government's current approach as a coordinated approach to marketing.

Madam Deputy Speaker, in his speech on 8 April in advocating for the Tourism and Events Corporation he said this:

Resources that are currently being committed to tourism promotion or activities of a similar kind -

not just narrowly tourism promotion, but 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.

That sounds very sensible and that is why the Labor Party supported it. He continued:

I mentioned the strategy for nature-based tourism.

He then went on to talk about parks and conservation and then he talked about sport and recreation - that is pretty relevant to the current debate - related to tourism-like activities, that is, activities designed to promote Canberra and draw people to Canberra. He went on to talk about some other matters as well. His conclusion was:

... by putting it all together in one base rather than spreading it thinly across the slice of bread.

What a good idea! That is why the Labor Party supported it. The Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation was going to bring a coordinated approach to the promotion and marketing of Canberra, not just narrowly in relation to tourism but broadly; a broad vision; a vision which took account of sport and recreation, environmental management and other things. Yet, in the budget, only a month later, we find the Government saying that they are going to put aside $500,000 to promote business, tourism, sporting and cultural strengths. What a good thing! And we have just the vehicle to use that money to promote those goals, our business, tourism, sporting and cultural strengths. It is called the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation. What a wonderful thing! We set up a Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation and now we have half a million dollars to promote our business, tourism, sporting and cultural strengths - exactly the kind of promotion that the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation was set up to do.

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