Page 3640 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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MR WALL: Minister, what funding is provided by the commonwealth per bed day for a patient in hospital while they seek a permanent residential care space?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I will take that question on notice and come back to the Assembly with the answer.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, is the government complying with federal guidelines relating to the maximum number of days in hospital? If not, is it doing so because commonwealth funding is more lucrative to the territory than actually discharging people from hospital?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Canberra Health Services obviously takes all measures to try to comply with guidelines. I can absolutely assure the Assembly that it would certainly not be the case that any extra length of stay would be because of any difference in cost. We are very keen to get people out of the hospital when it is not appropriate for them to be there. Improving patient flow through Canberra Hospital is a very high priority and a focus of the timely care strategy, which Mrs Dunne will get around to being briefed on in October.
Canberra—events
MR GUPTA: My question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, how do Canberra’s major events benefit our local economy?
MR BARR: I thank Mr Gupta for the question. Our major events are, of course, big contributors to the territory economy. For example, Floriade and Enlighten generate around $45 million in combined economic benefit to the territory each year. These events create jobs, they support local businesses and they help to fill our hotels, restaurants and cafes, generating significant benefits for Canberrans. They play a crucial role in attracting people to visit our city, often for the very first time, and to come back for repeat visits.
We use our major events to showcase the best of our city—our local products, experiences and talent—while also supporting sectors of the local economy. Tourism is now one of the territory’s largest private sector employers, providing jobs for over 17,000 Canberrans. Our 2020 tourism strategy supports event growth, to grow our visitor economy and to grow visitor expenditure in the territory to $2.5 billion by 2020. We are well on our way to achieving this goal off the back of another boom year for tourism in the ACT, with record highs in both domestic and international visitors to Canberra.
MR GUPTA: Chief Minister, how was attendance at this year’s Enlighten festival?
MR BARR: I am very pleased to advise the Assembly that this year’s Enlighten festival again broke all records, in terms of both attendance and economic benefit. In 2019, the festival achieved a combined attendance of a little over 328,000 people and generated $5½ million in direct expenditure. This is up from 319,000 and $4.8 million in direct expenditure in 2018. This is a fantastic outcome for the Enlighten festival.
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