Page 429 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 2 March 1994
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MR WESTENDE (4.41): Madam Speaker, I will not have one long whinge, as the Minister just - - -
Mr Wood: You are going to tell us where the taxes are coming from, are you?
MR WESTENDE: I am going to tell you very many ways you can do things. What is more, I have proved in an organisation I belong to that you can do things if you try. Let us begin with the Chief Minister. On page 4 of her speech she said:
A key component in building our future is the tourism sector.
I am a great believer in tourism and I use every opportunity, both here and when I go overseas, to promote this city. Like you, I happen to believe that this is one of the fairest cities in the world to live in, one of the most beautiful cities. I have no problem in doing that, because it is easy to be enthusiastic when you believe in something. As they say, knowledge is enthusiasm on fire. You might use that in some of your education, Mr Minister. It costs nothing.
I commend the Chief Minister on her mention of the Autumnfest. We have some great tourist attractions in this town. We have Floriade, and this year the Minister will receive some support for Floriade from an area I have some control over. We are not just talking about where the money is coming from; we are going to contribute some.
Mr Wood: Acknowledged.
MR WESTENDE: Okay. Is it just possible that we could learn something from other places? For instance, I have just been to the Northern Territory on a private visit, and whilst I was there I talked to the Northern Territory Tourism Commission. I have spoken to very many tourism commissions, including our own, and most of them are market driven. In the Northern Territory they have tried something new. They were previously market driven and it did not get them very far. They said, "Let us find out what people want. Let us find out what we have. Let us produce a discussion paper and, instead of being market driven, let us be research driven". That is the sort of thing we could do in this town. I am not saying that we have all the answers; but at least if we found out what are the best things we have, what people who visit this town want to do, that would be a start.
The Chief Minister also mentioned her trip to Japan. I commend the Chief Minister for trying to attract more tourists from Japan, but Japanese tourism is almost entirely linked to access through an international airport.
Mr Berry: Who was it that you sacked for saying that the Chief Minister's trip was a good idea? John Louttit agreed with this once, and he got the sack for saying that.
Mr De Domenico: Who sacked John Louttit?
MR WESTENDE: John Louttit moved of his own accord, Mr Minister. We live in a democracy and people can resign if they want to. Let us just for one minute think of one thing. We have just established that in order to attract Japanese tourism we need an international airport. The Minister is going to ask me again where the money is going to come from. Let us be a little innovative.
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