Page 1509 - Week 04 - Thursday, 25 March 2010
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Recommendations 30 through 34 look at tourism and EPIC. Recommendation 30 is interesting. Recommendation 30 talks about a report that Ernst & Young is doing into tourism. It says:
The Committee recommends that the Minister report to the ACT Legislative Assembly on the Government response to the Ernst and Young tourism events report as soon as possible.
The nature of this—this is why I got my numbers confused earlier—is that this contract with Ernst & Young to conduct these projects was for $128,000. They will do an evaluation of five events under the events assistance program, an evaluation of the world mountain bike championship and testing for the new autumn event concept. They are all important events for the future of the ACT—to our tourism calendar, but to the business calendar as well. If the government has a report, it would be appropriate for the Assembly to understand what that has recommended and what the government will do to maximise the value to the ACT.
Recommendation 31 looks at the outcomes for Australian Capital Tourism. These were reported as a whole without including the breakdown for individual business units. What we are saying in recommendation 31 is just to do the breakdown. We asked the questions; it should be in the report. Madam Deputy Speaker, you were here when CTEC and ACTC delivered an entire annual report on their own. Unfortunately, our tourism minister relegated it to just a couple of pages inside the TAMS report, which I think is inappropriate and does little to further the cause of tourism in the ACT.
Recommendations 32, 33 and 34 look at EPIC, one of my favourite subjects in this place. Recommendation 32 says:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government provide the necessary support to allow the Exhibition Park Corporation to complete, and implement, a comprehensive strategic plan as soon as possible.
This has been delayed for six or seven years, I believe through the intransigence of the Chief Minister, pure and simple. So much was allowed to happen when it was drawn back into the department. Why that support was not given when it was not inside a department is beyond me.
Recommendation 33 says:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government table the Exhibition Park Corporation’s strategic plan, including details of how the plan will be implemented, in the ACT Legislative Assembly immediately after its completion.
This will let the Assembly, which is the watchdog on the government, know what is going on. Let us have a role here to help it occur.
Recommendation 34 looks at that unsettled issue of block 751. It says:
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