Page 4174 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 21 September 2010
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commissioned in March 2009. According to the material in the FOI papers released to me, however, Australian Capital Tourism were still finalising their brief for the project in August 2009. The consultants were commissioned in March 2009 and the brief to the minister was in August 2009.
In August last year, according to folio 578, dated 8 August 2009, Australian Capital Tourism was putting the finishing touches to the brief for Ernst & Young and the brief was described as an “economic modelling brief”. Surely the economic modelling had been done before the minister decided to go ahead with the new event. The minister can get up and answer that question. When was Ernst & Young commissioned to undertake this project? If it was in March 2009, what was the nature of that project? If it was in August 2009, why did the minister just say it was in March 2009? Did Australian Capital Tourism commission two projects from Ernst & Young? That is a question the minister can answer.
The minister, by his statement today, has simply compounded the confusion that surrounds everything to do with the proposed new autumn event. In doing so, he continues this government’s appalling approach to encouraging significant tourism activity in the ACT, as we saw with the sad demise of the former world-renowned autumn balloon fiesta.
The minister has created enormous confusion with the silly commitment that the Labor Party made in 2008. With his vindictive and petty-minded approach to the original and, indeed, excellent balloon fiesta, he has set back the ACT’s tourism event calendar and wasted valuable funds and other resources in trying to find a way out of the mess that he created.
I also need to make some comments about the other matters that the minister mentioned today. He says that research was intended to consider the 2009 Canberra marathon, among other events. We know the total confusion that has now surrounded the holding of this event. Again, it is another sad commentary on the capacity of this government to deliver these events.
I wonder what Ernst & Young had to say about the chaos that has characterised this event in recent times, or is the minister too frightened to reveal this to the community? Apparently, the Ernst & Young project also encompassed the almost ill-fated mountain bike championship. Again, we have not seen what Ernst & Young had to say about this event. While it certainly appears that it was very successful—indeed, I congratulate the nomination for the sports award—what about the way in which the ACT government had to find substantial additional funds to bail this event out of a major financial hole? ACT government employees had to step into the breach and make sure that the event was a success.
Along with the minister, I congratulate all of those who were involved. The final result was something of which the ACT should be proud. Unfortunately, the success of the mountain bike event and the Masterpieces exhibition cannot mask the absolute incompetence that characterises this minister’s efforts in the tourism portfolio.
The latest disaster was the way in which he handled the longstanding relationship with the owner of the concert organ concerning the appearance of the organ at Floriade
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