Page 2761 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 29 June 2010
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as state of origin and the like. For the ACT, with a relatively small budget and relatively small population base compared to, say, Sydney or Melbourne, we need to be very strategic in making these choices. They are hard questions and government will sometimes perhaps make some wrong choices about what events to invest in and whether they end up being a success or not.
Mr Barr: The V8 supercar race.
MR RATTENBURY: Mr Barr suggested the V8 supercars. I am not going to go into specifics but the observation is a general one which—
Mr Coe: What have you got against major sporting events?
Mr Barr: That is right. It was such a success, that one.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members!
MR RATTENBURY: Let us not test Ms Porter’s voice. I think she is struggling in the chair.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
MR RATTENBURY: My observation was not about particular events but was simply that I think it is difficult for the ACT government. That is not a reason not to go for it. I think we do need to make these choices. We need to be mindful of what niche it is that Canberra should be seeking to fill in bidding for such events and what areas of, I guess, speciality and expertise we have, as a city, as a destination, and, therefore, be very mindful of these factors in our budgetary limitations when we consider what events we should be bidding for.
Ms Hunter already spoke about it but I want to touch briefly on the centenary. With tourism now located in the Chief Minister’s Department, there is a clear opportunity to exploit the synergies between centenary events and our tourism targets and the success we are trying to achieve there. It is very important that the centenary is not seen as a Canberra event but as a national event.
I think that you have to meet some of the tourists that come to Canberra. They feel a sense of pride and a sense of ownership in this city in a way which reflects very well on the city and reflects on what the city means to the nation. I think it is sad, in that context, that in recent times a range of federal governments have perhaps not been as enthusiastic in investing in this city as a national asset. I hope that the centenary of Canberra might be an opportunity where we move away from that perhaps national pastime of a bit of Canberra bashing and actually see the country, as a whole, embrace that major moment in Australia’s political history and, in a sense, in the history of the nation.
That theme brings me to the issue of the federal government and the role of Canberra as the federal capital versus Canberra as the city of the ACT in the tourism context. Again, there were some discussions in the estimates hearings where it was very clear
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