Page 4939 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 November 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
They have raised the concern with me and the minister that more and more mountain bike tracks are being encroached upon in the ACT. With the amount of housing construction going on, they firmly believe that it will not be long until it will feel like they are riding through people’s backyards. Stromlo Park is a case in point. One aspect they were particularly keen to engage the minister on was the development of a policy which would protect some of these wilderness-type areas that survived the fires of 2003. This would have added benefit to bringing in tourism, as well as increasing opportunities for recreational cycling by locals. But it seems they reached out to the government in vain. Just as the minister did not respond to my letters, so she has not responded to them.
The last event has been held and the forest harvested again. As a result of such short-sighted attitudes, the community is left with few options but to ride away to other places in Australia, and they do not have far to go to be honest. They ride in my old stomping grounds just across the border, the Bright-Wangaratta-Wodonga area, mainly because it is brilliant for cycling. They also travel to Adelaide and Brisbane. All these places are mountain bike destinations. And where the bikers go, the cash goes also in tourism dollars and sponsorship deals. Mountain biking equals cash in our economy.
Perhaps the biggest and brightest growing star is Tasmania where a far-sighted government has set their sights on becoming the leading destination for cycle tourism in Australia. The Tasmanian government have a clear strategy and vision of showing great leadership, and they have backed it up with even more funding. They have set the priority for building infrastructure—more tracks, routes and trails—having already invested $1 million for the St Helen’s mountain bike trail network and $800,000 on the blue derby mountain bike trails. They have set a priority for education and support that leads industry and community development, committing $6 million to establish a cycle tourism fund to make this happen. They have set as a priority development which will position Tasmania, not Canberra, as Australia’s best cycling destination.
They have done this through the new Tasmanian cycle tourism strategy which aims to guide the development of Tasmania’s cycling tracks and trails; grow and promote experiences and events; and improve safety for all cyclists. Already they have received in the past year 38,000 visitors, a number that is growing steadily. Tasmania, not Canberra, have grown their economy drawing more visitors to their state across the regions and creating more jobs.
What will this government do in response? Will they continue to ignore the needs of this section of the community, a section that has the potential to grow and bring in tourism dollars as well as supporting social, health and community values? Will this government continue to ignore stakeholders who have reached out to them through a number of avenues, including my office? Or will they respond positively to the motion put by Mr Rattenbury and work out ways to engage with the cyclists to keep the tracks open, to add new infrastructure, produce an ACT cycling tourism strategy, and fund its development and growth in the ACT?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video