Legislative Assembly 473 19 October 1995 THURSDAY, 19 OCTOBER 1995 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Australian Tourist Commission Hon. T. J. BURNS (Lytton—Deputy Mr SPEAKER (Hon. J. Fouras, Ashgrove) Premier and Minister for Tourism, Sport and read prayers and took the chair at 10 a.m. Youth) (10.03 a.m.), by leave: I wish to advise the House that I have arranged to meet with the Commonwealth Minister for Tourism to REGISTER OF MEMBERS' INTERESTS express my concerns over the management of the Australian Tourist Commission. Report Honourable members would be aware of my Mr SPEAKER: Order! Honourable public comments about the commission and members, I lay upon the table of the House its advertising. The Asian advertising served as the seventh report on the Register of final proof to some sections of the industry of Members' Interests. ATC management bias against Cairns in particular and Queensland in general. Before my recent visit to the QTTC's PETITION highly successful Asian offices, I was handed The Clerk announced the receipt of the a copy of an ATC annual operation plan for following petition— Japan for 1995-96 marked "Not for Circulation". In Issue 5, on page 4, the ATC states— High School, Tannum Sands "Work will continue to persuade From Mrs Cunningham (761 carriers particularly Qantas, to review signatories) requesting that the House urgently existing scheduled services so that Cairns consider alternate sites for the proposed State hub is de-emphasised, QF22 reverted to High School at Canoe Point, Tannum Sands. a night run and CNS services ex Tokyo switched to day runs. The unilaterally observed KIX/BNE/SYD pattern should be STATUTORY INSTRUMENT amended to incorporate KIX/SYD/BNE variations or BNE back to back." In accordance with the schedule Further, under the heading "Aviation circulated by the Clerk to members in the Development", the stated aim of this plan is to Chamber, the following document was "promote schedule rationalisation of existing tabled— services to Cairns and Brisbane". The specific Dairy Industry Act 1993— objectives of the ATC plan include the rescheduling of current flights from Japan- Dairy Industry (Market Milk Prices) Amendment Order (No. 1) 1995, No. 274. Brisbane-Sydney to Japan-Sydney-Brisbane, reducing flights to Cairns, rationalising flights to Brisbane and converting current night flights OFFICE OF SPEAKER into Cairns from Japan to day flights. It appears that the ATC sees Cairns as having a Statement of Recurrent Expenditure so-called accommodation problem—that is, Hon. T. M. MACKENROTH very high occupancy—and it proposes to fix it (Chatsworth—Leader of the House) by reducing the number of planes to Cairns by (10.02 a.m.): I lay upon the table of the House sending them to Sydney. What a strange way the statement of recurrent expenditure in of addressing tourism growth, especially when summary format for the Office of Speaker for the ATC is charged with promoting Australian 1994-95. tourism! It would appear that ATC managers and senior executives believe that the answer to PAPER the QTC's and the Cairns Port Authority's great The following paper was laid on the success in having more planes flying direct to table— Cairns from Asia and Japan is to de-emphasise the hub and to have them fly to Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Sydney's congested airport. Its other answer is Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for to make the tourists fly during the day so that the Arts (Mr Foley)— they arrive in Cairns during the night; in other Queensland Election 1995—Statistical Returns. words, forcing the tourists to lose a day in 19 October 1995 474 Legislative Assembly Cairns by having them sitting in an aeroplane The ATC's management is represented in for at least seven daylight hours. some Asian centres, where Queensland has When competition with Asian and US its own QTTC offices, by general sales agents holiday destinations is based on claims that whose job is to represent Australia and Australia is too far and too costly, how will the Australian tourism. One agent representing ATC proposals help Australia? Without fail the ATC and Australia has accepted an during my talks with airline executives and appointment to represent Victoria—and is paid wholesale and retail travel executives in Asia, to do so. A second is under consideration. they said that a positive selling point was that How is that for a conflict of interest! Cairns was closer to most Asian departure When someone calls that agent for points than Hawaii, without the extra burden of advice about Australia, do we think that as the crossing the dateline. The ATC's answer to agent for Victoria he would give information that is to fly people to Sydney with flight about Queensland—Australia's premium times—ex Hong Kong—of eight and a half tourism State—first, or would he do the job hours, or fly them during the day so that they that he is paid to do by Victoria? How ATC's lose a day of their holidays. senior management can allow such a conflict No-one can understand why the ATC to occur is beyond me. However, it reinforces sees its role as being to de-emphasise the my determination to stand fast in my demand Cairns hub. I will be asking who gives the ATC that Queensland gets a fair go from the ATC. I staff the right—without consulting with the certainly will not accept the attitude of ATC QTTC or the Queensland Government—to chief Jon Hutchison, who dismissed plan to reduce direct flights to Queensland. Australiawide complaints in the magazine Traveltrade by saying, "It's our money and we A Government member: Or the local can do what we like with it." member. Mr BURNS: Or the local member, who I have another document which shows has never heard of it, either. Who gives the that the ATC bias is the worst-kept secret in ATC the right to seek a rescheduling of other the Australian tourism industry. An industry international flights to our State? What about peak body, the Tourism Task Force, reported Brisbane? The ATC proposal would see the in August to its Victorian members of its efforts Kansai-Brisbane-Sydney flight overfly Brisbane to "push for more southerly images in the and go on to Sydney and then come back to ATC's generic advertising", which is described Brisbane—in other words, see Queensland as "already an emerging trend". It is already last. How would that help the Gold Coast, an emerging trend all right! I wonder how they which is a major Japanese tourist destination? knew this in August when Queensland was not How would it help Brisbane or Sunshine Coast consulted on the campaign. tourism? How many Japanese tourists would Recently, I launched another good we lose from our well-known theme parks, Queensland wine, Preston Peak. Those in the beaches and shopping outlets with all that know in the industry accept that there are extra flying and airport waiting time added to some quite good wines now being produced their journey? north of the border. A Queenslander on ATC managers have put forward these holiday in Scotland picked up A Taste of proposals as their airline operational plan for Australia, a very colourful publication, from 1995-96—and I repeat: with no consultation within a large circulation publication titled Good with the QTTC. It has been suggested to me Housekeeping. She was very disappointed to that the board may have rejected the plan, find that there was no Queensland product and that is the advice that I get now that I featured, and rang the publisher only to be have raised the issue. However, I say that it told that the copy for the magazine was has to go further than that and we have to supplied by the Australian Tourist Commission. challenge some of the management Upon her arrival back in Australia, she phoned objectives of senior ATC management. The the Australian Tourist Commission and managers and marketers who devised that questioned it about the fact that Queensland plan also devised the Asian advertising was not included, only to be told that campaign that mostly promotes Sydney. Queensland did not have any wineries. In its edition of 4 October, the well- I do not believe that Governments should respected trade magazine Traveltrade interfere in the day-to-day running of the described the advertisements as "presenting tourist industry. Our job is to help those no WA images, little footage of Victoria and thousands of tourism operators who have put only three segments of Queensland in the 30 their money and time into this industry. The second Asian commercial". But that is not all. less Government interference the better. I Legislative Assembly 475 19 October 1995 want the ATC and the QTTC to work together management and dispute resolution for the benefit of tourism. We want to work provisions will come under a new Community with the ATC and we want it to work with us. Land Management Act. Titling aspects will be The ATC cannot be allowed to play favourites; handled under amendments to the existing it must consult with all sections of the industry, Land Title Act, which I hope to present to the Australiawide. The arrogance of its senior House before the end of this year. All planning managers in dismissing the concerns of those elements will initially be dealt with under who have put their own money into the amendments to the present Local industry as some form of parochialism cannot Government (Planning and Environment) Act be allowed to continue.