Page 291 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 May 1989
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use, but I mean at that end of the market. That is the area that is going to continue to bring us most of our revenue. I know that it is not being neglected, but I think we still need more specific information for that area. I live near the youth hostel on Dryandra Street. I note the extensions there recently and I am aware that the number of beds for backpackers, for young people, has also increased substantially. It is interesting to note that you do not have to be young to go to those places. I stayed at one of them in Sydney not so long ago and nowadays they cater for a wide range of people. These are the sorts of things that should be targeted.
I think aged pensioners may be well catered for. There is certainly an unlimited number, it seems, who come through on package tours. That is a very interesting market. I do not see as many of them as I would like to see, following some of the conversations I have had, out there playing bowls or other games. I see them in the clubs, but I think there is more scope to get them out of their buses and out of Parliament House too, and on to some of the playing fields here.
Finally, I should note an area that seems to me to be unique to Canberra, and that is the Floriade. I know that most of the provincial areas in Australia have their festivals of some sort, which often are floral festivals, but to me Floriade seems something special and different from anything else available in Australia. It is very comprehensively advertised but, with only one Floriade behind us, it will take a few years to develop a wide recognition across Australia and further afield. But I am sure that that will happen and that Canberra will become as famous for the Floriade as it has for some of its more notable public institutions.
MR MOORE (11.58): Having listened to my colleague Mr Jensen present such excellent ideas so well, it occurs to me how petty it was that he was excluded from the tourist launch of the "Canberra Visitor" the other day. Having heard so many positive comments today, I would sound a particularly strong note of warning. There was a time in Canberra when people said how dull and dead the centre of the city was, that it had no heart, that it had no soul. Those excuses were used in order to allow unlimited development. Let the warning go out that tourism will not become the new god. Tourism is very important, as we have made clear, but it will not be an excuse to allow anything to go ahead just because it happens to benefit tourists.
I move to Labor Party policy, about which I have some fear. The principles outlined in Labor Party policy are to create local employment - great; increase the number of visitors to the Australian Capital Territory - great; increase the average stay of visitors - great; encourage investment in tourist facilities - fine; build up community awareness of the importance of tourism for the economic development of Canberra - no problem; encourage greater cooperation
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