Page 2017 - Week 06 - Thursday, 8 June 2006
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the matter is that the tourism industry is the second largest private sector employer in this territory and that a very large number of our young people and our women generally secure vital income from the industry.
Tourism is one industry where women with children are able to position themselves in employment that will guarantee that they have the opportunity to work and fulfil obligations and maintain civilised home environments. It is one industry that has a disproportionate number of women involved in senior management and general manager positions. There are female general managers running substantial hotels in this city and I am amazed that Ms Gallagher, who has responsibility for women’s issues, has taken no interest in this reform or the abolition of this authority. It is an industry with which many in this chamber have associations, including, of course, you, Mr Speaker, through family members. I am therefore puzzled at the absolute lack of appreciation of the important role that tourism has played in terms of providing income for so many different subsets within the ACT community.
Just about every member here has or has had university-age children. There is hardly one that I know of that has not generated most of the income that has put them through university from work they have had in the hospitality sector. The Chief Minister does not seem to appreciate that this is a sector that is very quick to respond to changes in demand. There are other industries that slow down or have more of a long-term contract basis which influences the employment outcomes or have a very heavy reliance on government contracts and can predict their future. But what we find with tourism is that the industry responds both positively and negatively very quickly in terms of demand and in terms of employment needs.
For example, if there is a fall-off in tourism numbers, hotels will very quickly reduce their work force because they cannot carry the expense of their overheads if they have fewer guests in their hotels. Restaurants cut back on staff if they do not have the required demand for meals through the tourism sector. Tourism is an industry that on the positive side, with some encouragement and support and well-focused efforts, can create a large amount of employment for young people, for women generally and for others who are seeking part-time, full-time or casual employment and can react very quickly to upturns in demand and as a consequence of well-placed marketing.
I do not think any agency of government should be immune from rigorous scrutiny by government, opposition or this Assembly, but I do not believe that you tackle inefficiency, if that has been identified, simply by rashly throwing the whole arrangement out and saying, “Bad luck; everything about the organisation is no good and we will abolish it.” Let me illustrate. Several years ago we had the Masters Games in Canberra and in the order of, I think, 20,000 people came to this city. I talked to a few cab drivers that week and they said that it produced more income than any other week of the year. So there are people such as cabbies who rely very heavily on the tourism dollar.
Mr Stefaniak: A $21 million economic impact.
MR MULCAHY: An incredible impact on the wellbeing of people here. You see it in the restaurants that get busy. You see it in the hotels that become busy.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .