Tuesday, 25 July 2017 ______
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Estimates—Education, Tourism, Major Events and the 25 Jul 2017 1 Commonwealth Games TUESDAY, 25 JULY 2017 _______________ ESTIMATES—EDUCATION, TOURISM, INNOVATION AND SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE—EDUCATION, TOURISM, MAJOR EVENTS AND THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES EST IMATES—EDUCATION, TOURISM, M AJOR EVENT S AND THE COMM ONW EALTH GAM ES Estimate Committee Members Mr SJ Stewart (Chair) Miss VM Barton Mr MA Boothman Mr BM Saunders Mr TJ Sorensen Mr RA Williams _______________ Members in Attendance Mr SA Emerson Mr JP Langbroek Mrs JR Miller Mr JM Krause Ms TE Davis Mr SL Dickson Mrs T Smith _______________ In Attendance Hon. KJ Jones, Minister for Education and Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Commonwealth Games Mr M Jutsum, Chief of Staff Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Mr D Walker, Director-General Ms K Petersen, Deputy Director General, Office of the Commonwealth Games Mr J McAlister, Deputy Director-General, Tourism Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 Corporation Mr M Peters, Chief Executive Officer Tourism and Events Queensland Ms L Coddington, Chief Executive Officer Department of Education and Training Mr J Watterston, Director-General Mr J Hunt, Deputy Director-General, Corporate Services Ms L Nixon, Assistant Director-General, State Schools Mr B Brennan, Assistant Director-General, State Schools—Operations Ms D Dunstone, Assistant Director-General, State Schools—Disability and Inclusion Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority Mr C Rider, Chief Executive Officer _______________ Estimates—Education, Tourism, Major Events and the 2 25 Jul 2017 Commonwealth Games Committee met at 9.00 am CHAIR: Thank you and good morning everyone. I declare open this hearing of the estimates for the Education, Tourism, Innovation and Small Business Committee. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I would like to introduce the members of the committee. I am Scott Stewart, the member for Townsville and chair of the committee. Ms Verity Barton, the member for Broadwater, is the deputy chair. The other committee members here today are Mr Mark Boothman, the member for Albert; Mr Ted Sorensen, the member for Hervey Bay; Mr Bruce Saunders, the member for Maryborough; and Mr Rick Williams, the member for Pumicestone. The committee has granted leave for non-committee members to ask questions in this hearing today, so other members may be present over the course of proceedings. Today, the committee will consider the Appropriation Bill 2017 and the estimates for the committee’s area of responsibility. I remind everyone present that a person may be excluded from the proceedings at my discretion as the chair. The committee has authorised the guidelines for camera operations that will apply to this hearing. Copies of the guidelines are available from committee staff if necessary. I ask that mobile phones or electronic devices be turned off or switched to silent mode. I also remind you that food and drink are not permitted in this chamber. The committee will examine the portfolio areas in the following order: the Commonwealth Games from 9 am to 10.30 am; Tourism and Major Events from 10.45 am to 12.15 pm; Education from 1 pm to 4.45 pm; Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy from 4.45 pm to 6.15 pm; and Small Business from 6.15 pm to 7.15 pm. The committee will suspend proceedings for the following breaks: from 10.30 am to 10.45 am; 12.15 pm to 1 pm; and 3.30 pm to 3.45 pm. The committee will now examine the proposed expenditure contained in the Appropriation Bill 2017 for the portfolio areas of the Minister for Education and Minister for Tourism and Major Events and the Commonwealth Games. The committee will examine the minister’s portfolio of the Commonwealth Games until 10.30 am; the portfolio areas of Tourism and Major Events from 10.45 am to 12.15 pm; and the portfolio area of Education from 1.00 pm to 4.45 pm. Visiting members present today are Mr John-Paul Langbroek MP, the member for Surfers Paradise and shadow minister for the Commonwealth Games, and the member for Bundamba, Mrs Jo-Ann Miller. I remind those present today that these proceedings are proceedings of the parliament and subject to the standing rules and orders of the parliament. It is important that questions and answers remain relevant and succinct. The same rules that apply for questions in parliament also apply to this hearing today. I refer to standing orders 112 and 115. Questions should be brief and relate to one issue and should not contain lengthy or subjective preambles, argument or opinion. I intend to guide proceedings so that the relevant issues can be explored and there is ample opportunity for questions from government and non-government members. On behalf of the committee, I welcome to the hearing the minister, the Hon. Kate Jones MP; Mr Damien Walker, the director-general of the Department of Tourism, Major Events and Small Business and the Commonwealth Games; departmental officials and members of the public. For the benefit of Hansard, I ask departmental officers to identify themselves the first time they answer a question referred to them. I now declare the proposed expenditure for the portfolio area of the Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation—GOLDOC—open for examination. The question before the committee is— That the proposed expenditure be agreed to. Minister, you may make an opening statement of up to five minutes. Miss BARTON: Point of order, Mr Chair. Earlier today, I put a request into the committee that the State Archivist be compelled to appear before this committee during its consideration of the estimates for the Science, Innovation and the Digital Economy portfolio. I again move— That this committee compel the State Archivist to appear before the committee today and be compelled to appear and answer questions. CHAIR: There is no point of order. The committee does not deliberate in public. I now call the minister to make her opening statement of up to five minutes. Estimates—Education, Tourism, Major Events and the 25 Jul 2017 3 Commonwealth Games Ms JONES: Thank you. I am so excited to be talking about the Commonwealth Games, given that this is the Commonwealth Games segment of the estimates hearing today, as I am sure are other members. As the honourable member said, it is a very exciting time as we lead up to the Commonwealth Games. There are just 253 days to go until we will be hosting the largest event ever in Queensland, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, in 2018. As we sit here today, the Queen’s baton is making its way around the Commonwealth nations and territories across the globe. Today, the Queen’s baton is in Bermuda. As I said, we know that the games will be not only the largest event that Queensland has ever held but also the largest event in Australia this decade. In 2009, I was very proud to be part of a Labor government that launched our bid for the Commonwealth Games, because we knew that it had the potential to grow jobs, infrastructure and tourism on the Gold Coast and for Queensland. With an international audience estimated at 1.5 billion, we committed $1.5 billion to deliver the games. I am pleased to inform the committee that the games are on track, on time and on budget. That was the formal tick of planning approval from the Commonwealth Games Federation at the most recent coordination commission review. All of our sporting venues are now complete. Our $320 million games construction program delivered three brand-new world-class venues and major upgrades to seven venues. This supported more than 1,000 construction jobs. It was great to officially open the most recently completed venue earlier this month, the Gold Coast Hockey Centre, with the Gold Coast mayor, Minister Ciobo and the member for Southport. Momentum is building. We know that we are in for big crowds and a great atmosphere when the Commonwealth Games gets underway on 4 April 2018. Already, hundreds of thousands of ticket have been sold. Most finals are sold out, but there are still great opportunities for families and people to secure tickets in the earlier rounds of competition. My family and I have purchased tickets to attend the squash, the boxing and the athletics. The creative team of Jack Morton Worldwide are busy preparing the opening ceremony. This year, thousands of Queenslanders are already getting involved in the games. We have received more than 47,000 applications for people wanting to be volunteers at the games and thousands of nominations for baton bearers for the Queen’s baton relay. Off the back of the Queen’s baton relay, we are making the most of the opportunities to explore trade opportunities and attract investment from our major Commonwealth trade partners. Our Commonwealth Games trade legacy program, Trade 2018, which was launched in London—and I want to thank the shadow minister for his attendance at that launch—it positions Queensland to engage with new international business partners. The opportunities are endless. We are also making the most of the opportunities to drive social change through the games with the global One million Stars to End Violence project and the Women of the World program to celebrate the achievements of women and girls across the Commonwealth. This is the first time ever that the Commonwealth Games has had the same number of medal events for men and women.