Page 2775 - Week 08 - Thursday, 11 August 2016
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The Australian Alps walking track—660 kilometres from Walhalla in Victoria to Tharwa in the ACT—represents an opportunity to establish an iconic walking track within the broader national and international tourism sector. I know that Mr Jeffery would be very excited about the opportunities there.
At present, the Mount Tennant section of the AAWT near Tharwa is walked by over 10,000 people per year. This is clear potential for the AAWT to become a highly desirable tourist destination in much the same category as the overland track in Tasmania.
The government has identified $210,000 in the 2016-17 budget to develop and re-use opportunities for ex-staff accommodation in the Namadgi national park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve with a view to inviting more public enjoyment of our own alpine environments.
The Environment and Planning Directorate is looking to explore ways that tourism operators might be supported to offer unique experiences in an environmentally sensitive way for a public eager to sample our unique alpine environment. By investing in the refit of ex-staff housing in our parks, we could offer visitors some exciting accommodation options to overnight in our alpine environments.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hinder.
MR HINDER: Minister, how will the ACT’s carriage improve the conservation and environmental outcomes for the alps and the ACT as a whole?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Hinder for his question. As the lead agency for the next three years the ACT will be seeking to ensure that the alps program is firmly grounded in practical operational outcomes and that those outcomes are effectively communicated to all agency staff. Funds will be directed towards priority conservation issues in line with the alps strategic plan 2016-2018. Projects approved under this plan will come under the auspices of three reference groups: connecting people, cultural heritage and environment. Each of these groups comprises members from each partner agency and meets on a regular basis.
Project outcomes will be promptly uploaded onto websites and social media. The regular newsletter will be more clearly targeted at operational staff and future project proposals will need to demonstrate tangible and timely benefits to member agencies.
This financial year the program has a strong conservation focus, with projects such as using sniffer dogs to locate high-risk weeds, improved methods of surveying wild horse numbers, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to assess stream bank erosion and a field workshop focused on emerging vertebrate pests. All of these are high-value, practical projects from which all partner agencies will benefit. It is the intention of the alps program over the next three years to focus strongly on practical outcomes and effective communications using the latest technology.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hinder.
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