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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (8 April) . . Page.. 663 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

Smaller operators are facing hard times. They are not seeing the visitors come through the door. They are seeing their profits go down. I have an example of a business in Ginninderra Village. They took $120 for all of the Canberra Day long weekend. It is not worth their staying open. They rely solely on tourist trade. A couple of years ago, they were going well. In the past year, they have been struggling. So, I think, if the Government is going to get serious about tourism in Canberra, the issue it needs to address is promotion and marketing. But, to the extent that this Bill does give confidence to the tourism sector, we will support it.

MR HIRD (11.32): My, how we do forget! I know that Mr Corbell is the new chum in the chamber, but what were they doing for the last five years? Mr Corbell, nothing was what you were doing - absolutely nothing. Mr Speaker, the call for a tourism corporation or authority started when I was the deputy chairman of the Advisory Board on Tourism, as you will recall, from 1974 through to 1979. That call has fallen on deaf ears ever since. The tourist industry itself called for an authority. For five years the Follett Government sat on its hands and did absolutely nothing. Mr Corbell comes in now, riding his white charger, and says, "This is what the Government is doing". You cannot change things overnight. Your party has something to answer for, because you sat on your hands and did nothing for those five years. Admit it; you did nothing.

Tourism is a multimillion dollar industry in the ACT. It not only affects the ACT, but also affects the surrounding region. In 1995-96 tourists directly poured more than $300m into the ACT economy and the region. I would ask Mr Corbell, on that note: How much did the Follett Government put into tourism during its five years? It was less than the $2m that is going in at the moment; but I am sure that the Minister will enlighten us on that matter at the appropriate time.

The Federal Bureau of Tourism Research estimates that 10,000 full-time and part-time jobs are created in the ACT, principally in the restaurant, club, hotel, entertainment, health and transport sectors. The majority of these positions are filled by young people from within the region of the ACT. Any organisation that makes such a substantial contribution to this Territory and the local economy should have the autonomy to determine the way it operates, the way it develops - - -

Mr Berry: Stick to the speech.

MR HIRD: Do not talk, Mr Berry. You were part of the Follett Government. You sat on your hands. As a matter of fact, you were a Minister, and you could have made a significant contribution during that time, instead of pushing another barrow, which cost us quite a lot of money, which could have been better spent on the tourism industry within the Territory.

Any organisation that makes such a substantial contribution to this Territory's economy should have autonomy. It is essential that the Government provide as much support as possible to an industry that has the potential employment and economic impact that tourism has, not only on the ACT, Mr Speaker, but on the region. The Bill before the house is the means of providing that support. For every 170 international and domestic visitors to the Territory, one full-time or part-time job is created. This in itself is reason

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