Page 1072 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 May 2006
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especially pleasing to see how many of them are young people, teenagers at college level or perhaps at senior high school level.
It is also interesting that a lot of these people would never ever listen to that kind of music and would never buy those CDs, but they go along to the festival, find themselves listening to the music and enjoying it and find it is not un-cool to listen to a folk singer. It is terrific to see how many young people are involved. We do not have the Big Day Out here in Canberra. We often hear young people complaining about the lack of music venues, but there is the folk festival and they are in it.
I conclude by mentioning their fantastic waste disposal system. A friend of mine Philippa Hartley initiated this. When you buy a coffee you get it in a plastic cup. When you are finished you put it in a special wire bin; it gets washed; and they keep on recycling them. There are no paper cups. There are also bins for compost material, bins for recyclables and bins for just garbage.
There does not seem to be any problem with contamination there, something that the government has said when we have asked that we have recycling bins and composting bins around Civic. It is an indication that when things are set up properly people will do the right thing. What it leads to is an incredibly pleasant venue, without rubbish.
I do not go to too many events at Natex. I do not think there would be too many where there is such a lack of rubbish on the ground and elsewhere; such a friendly atmosphere, with people walking around, buying things; and lots of colour, lots of music and all the really good ingredients. Canberra is very lucky that every year people do it all again.
Northern Territory budget
MR SMYTH (Brindabella—Leader of the Opposition) (5.03): Earlier today the Northern Territory Treasurer, the Hon. Sid Stirling MLA, delivered the 2006 budget for the Martin government. According to Mr Stirling, his budget will make great strides in delivering the Martin government’s second-term agenda. The centrepiece of Mr Stirling’s 2006 budget is a strong commitment to funding for the Northern Territory’s tourism industry.
What does Mr Sterling say in his introduction to his 2006 budget? Let me quote him:
This Budget grows the Territory’s economy.
It creates jobs for Territorians through strategic investment in key areas.
Most significantly, Budget 2006 makes a strong commitment to the future development of the tourism industry.
In 2003, the government responded to the then tourism crisis with a three-year tourism marketing package. Those funds [that is, an additional $10 million a year] helped turn around the tourism industry.
I am pleased to announce that the Government will now commit these funds [that is, the extra $10 million each year] on an ongoing basis.
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