17 Apr 2002 Legislative Assembly 1043 WEDNESDAY, 17 APRIL 2002 Mr SPEAKER (Hon. R. K. Hollis, Redcliffe) read prayers and took the chair at 9.30 a.m. AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT Mr SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members, I have to report that today I received from the Auditor-General a report entitled Audit Report No. 3, 2001-02, Auditor-General's report to parliament—Results of audits performed for 2000-01 as at 28 February 2002, and I table the said report. PETITION Gold Coast Harbour Vision 2020 Project Mr Lawlor from 161 petitioners, requesting the House to advise the Gold Coast City Council that the House will not agree to the recommendations contained in the Gold Coast Harbour Vision 2020 Project—Report No 1 and is against any commercial development of the Broadwater (including Wavebreak Island) and the western foreshore and any further reclamation. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Tourism Futures Conference; Regional Events Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.32 a.m.), by leave: Later today I will join my colleague Tourism Minister Merri Rose to officially open the National Conference on Tourism Futures being held at Couran Cove Island Resort on South Stradbroke Island. This conference brings together operators, policy makers, academics and tourism professionals to address the challenges faced by the industry. Tourism has a very positive future, with international tourist numbers to Australia expected to double to 10 million people a year by 2010, with about half of these visitors coming to Queensland, the Smart State. We need innovative promotional campaigns to capture the lion's share of this growing market and we have to put in place the infrastructure to cope with the influx of visitors. This conference is looking at many different topics that influence tourism, including transport, regional development and economic policy. For my part, I will be spelling out the Queensland government's commitment to the tourism industry, for which I am a strong advocate, along with the minister. I will also emphasise the bounce our industry can expect from this the International Year of Ecotourism, which features the 2002 International Ecotourism Conference endorsed by the United Nations to be held in Cairns in October. Queensland has five World Heritage areas—the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, the Wet Tropics, the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves and the Riversleigh fossil fields. Ecotourism already makes up more than a quarter of the total Queensland tourism industry and is forecast to grow by 20 per cent to 30 per cent a year. The outlook for tourism in Australia is very positive. We have a magnificent product and we stand poised on the brink of a huge expansion in international tourism over the next decade. My government has developed a very forward-looking Growing Tourism strategy, including a specific tourism blueprint for the large US market. In Queensland we have initiated a Regional Tourism Organisation Network that divides the state into 14 regions so that we can promote the special features of these regions individually as well as collectively with our brand Queensland marketing. The $110 million Queensland Heritage Trails Network is a real focus, with the network's 32 attractions bringing life and tourism dollars to regions and rural Queensland. A government member: Hear, hear! Mr BEATTIE: I take that interjection from the minister responsible for heritage trails. Tourism is one of Queensland's largest employers, providing jobs for 150,000 people, with visitors to our state spending more than $14 billion a year. One Queensland job is created or supported for every 167 domestic visitors or by every 65 international visitors. One feature of international tourism is that it is driving the development of indigenous tourism in Queensland, because international tourists want to experience the distinctive and unique culture of the original Australians. Drive tourism is also an expanding market, with 75 per cent of visitors using a private 1044 Legislative Assembly 17 Apr 2002 vehicle or hire cars. The Tourism Futures conference is important for our tourism industry. I am delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the conference a little later today. Event tourism is particularly important. Mr Speaker, as you would understand, event tourism also promotes jobs and opportunities. That is why it was so important that more than 38 regional events now have support from the state government's Events Regional Development Program. This is the largest program of supported events of any state in Australia. On Friday I was at Noosa, along with the local members—I mentioned them yesterday—for the announcement of the 22 successful applicants in round 2. Funding allocations varied from $5,000 to $25,000. For this round there were 154 applicants. For round 1 there were 89 applicants. It is certainly catching on. Already we have seen a significant lift in visitor numbers and economic activity favouring the regional tourism economy. Members might recall that last week I detailed how Toowoomba's Gospel Music Festival had an extra 5,000 people attending this year's three-day event. Our assistance with its marketing played a significant role in attracting that 20 per cent increase. This is precisely why my government initiated this strategy. The regions are an integral part of Queensland—the big events state. We want them to share the gains we are making. Therefore, I want to highlight this relationship between tourism and events and event tourism. The second round of funding embraced a range of events from fishing competitions, bush poetry contests to the Noosa Long Weekend. Mr Foley: Hear, hear! Mr BEATTIE: We are getting cultural here. I commend all of the people and communities who applied for funding. I also thank members for playing their part in increasing the program's profile as evidenced by the 154 applications in this round. We are seeking a strong emphasis on quality event delivery, creative approaches to their development, and far more sophisticated marketing. The program's popularity comes as no surprise. As we see many rural and regional centres turning to tourism, special events provide one of the most unique and fastest-growing forms of tourism attraction. From my discussions on Friday with the Maryborough Technology Challenge representatives and those from the Childers Multicultural Festivals and the Noosa Long Weekend, I have an increased appreciation of just what this funding can do to boost these people and their events and what it means for their community. The guys from the Thumpernats—a national senior motocross event for Conondale in March—explained to me that their event will attract 5,000 to 6,000 spectators and up to 400 competitors from across the nation. The events program offers the chance to exploit our state's great diversity and to provide ongoing economic benefits to our regions. This was highlighted at Friday's function opening when Queensland Events board member Peter Owen highlighted that no longer does Queensland Events just have a few high-profile events to cater for. This program is opening up a whole new era of opportunity for events, both large and small, right across regional Queensland. I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a list of the second round winners. Leave granted. EVENT TOWN/CITY RTOREGION Isisford Fishing Competition & Festival (13-14Jul) Isisford Outback Black Stump Camel Races (26-27Jul) Blackall Outback Isa Rodeo Festival (5-11 Aug) Mt. Isa Outback Birdsville Raceday (6-7Sep) Birdsville Outback National Bronco Branding Championships (22-23Jun) Stonehenge Outback Bush Poetry Championship (20-24Jun) Winton Outback Childers Multicultural Food, Wine & Arts Festival (22-28Jul) Childers Bundaberg Gemfest (8-11Aug) Anakie Capricorn Big River Jazz Festival (6-7 Sep) Rockhampton Capricorn Hogs Breath Race Week 2002 (9-16Aug) Airlie Beach Whitsundays Gold Coast Film Fantastic (16-19Aug) Gold Coast Gold Coast Cairns Amateurs(12-15Sep) Cairns Tropical NQ Cooktown Discovery Festival (7-10Jun) Cooktown Tropical NQ Australian Festival of Chamber Music (3-14Jul) Townsville Townsville Grandfather Clock Campdraft (18-20Oct) Chinchilla Toowoomba Jondaryan Woolshed Australian Heritage Festival (24Aug-1Sep) Jondaryan Toowoomba Maryborough Energy Festival (13-15Sep) Maryborough Fraser Coast Goomeri Pumpkin Festival (24-25May) Goomeri Fraser Coast The Noosa Long Weekend (21-30Jun) Noosa Sunshine Cst National Country Music Muster (20-25Aug) Amamoor Sunshine Cst 2002 ADB Thumpernats (21Jul) Conondale Sunshine Cst 2003 Australian Motocross Championships (Mar2003) Conondale Sunshine Cst 17 Apr 2002 Ministerial Statement 1045 Mr BEATTIE: I will table some material, but before I do so I wish to highlight that the Queensland Events Regional Development Program was announced in 2001 as part of my government's election promise in line with the state's first-ever events policy, Events the Queensland Way. It is working well. I again call on members to push this hard. Round 3 is open now and closes on 9 August. While at the Sunshine Coast I took the time to inspect the Lensworth Kawana Waters project, along with the member for Kawana. I table for the information and awareness of members a statement and publications that highlight the successes of this exciting project that is expected to deliver 10,000 jobs over the next 13 years. Mr Cummins: Job, jobs, jobs. Mr BEATTIE: Absolutely. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Cape York Justice Study Hon. P. D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.39 a.m.), by leave: The Queensland government alone cannot improve the prospects of the children of indigenous communities in Cape York and in other parts of the state. Even community partnership, although essential, is not enough to ensure children born today live longer, healthier and more satisfying lives than their parents. Essentially, we are talking about a rescue mission that requires the combined force of all agencies involved in Queensland's indigenous communities.