Page 2932 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011
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I certainly recognise that there were elements of Enlighten that worked exceptionally well and elements that were not so successful, and we will, of course, learn from that and seek to continue to enhance the event in the years ahead. I do note that the event was very successful in raising awareness of Canberra as a tourism destination in our key markets, and that the impact of our marketing campaign was very positive in terms of the key performance indicators that our marketing campaign sought to meet. I certainly look forward to a growth and expansion of Enlighten in the years ahead.
Finally, in relation to the blockbuster fund, again I acknowledge the very sensible contribution of Mr Rattenbury. Yes, there is a need for guidelines. The program opens on Friday, and I will be releasing the guidelines at the time the program opens on Friday, but there is a need obviously for flexibility. That is why the event fund was established, to enable flexibility for the government between budgets to procure major events for the city. We do have a couple that we have our eye on, and I look forward to being able to make those major announcements in the very near future. Just to allay the concerns of the estimates committee, when I launch and open the blockbuster fund on Friday 1 July the guidelines will accompany the launch of that particular fund, as you would expect.
I thank members for their contributions tonight. I think the Economic Development Directorate is an exciting new area of ACT government. I am really pleased to have the honour of being the first minister in this area with this new directorate, and it brings together a range of really important contributors to the ACT economy and will, with the team that is being pulled together, be a fantastic contribution to ACT government and to the ACT economy in the years ahead. I thank members for their support of this particular line.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Proposed expenditure—Part 1.7—Treasury Directorate—$52,034,000 (net cost of outputs), $116,277,000 (capital injection) and $22,609,000 (payments on behalf of the territory), totalling $190,920,000.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.23): This directorate really sets the scene for the consideration of the budget. I just make the point that it is odd having it come in at the seventh line when so much has gone before it that probably could have been or would have been said in this part of the debate. So be it. It might be something we take on board for next year.
First of all I would like to thank the Treasurer for the technical briefing that was offered to the estimates committee. I think it is a very worthwhile thing to do. We did it for the first time last year and it worked well. It allows members of the estimates committee to get across some of the technical detail perhaps before some of the political detail is discussed. In that way it is not a bad initiative and I hope that it is included in future years.
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