Cruise Ship Strategy

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment regarding cruise ships.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: As we have seen, the cruise ship season is now underway. With more than 180,000 passengers due to visit South Australia, many will go to Kangaroo Island. Currently, SeaLink and Kangaroo Island Connect, a smaller ferry operator, pay a levy on each passenger to the KI Council, which is used to maintain the wharf area at Penneshaw. My questions are:

1. Will cruise ship passengers be required to pay a levy? If not, why not?

2. Is the South Australian Tourism Commission looking at imposing its own levy? What will the amount be of this levy and how much will be raised?

3. If a levy is to be imposed, will the proceeds go directly to the South Australian Tourism Commission to meet its own costs and will any be distributed to the Kangaroo Island Council to help maintain its costs?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:00): I thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in tourism. Indeed, at the risk of offending the members opposite, I will talk briefly about the cruise season, which was in a press release I issued last week. There are 180,000-odd passengers coming this year, up about 11,400—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: 181,000.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: 181,000 passengers. I think we should celebrate that. I think about 11,459—I can't recall the exact figure—extra passengers are coming this year. It is great for South Australia. We have, for the first time, a cruise ship going to Wallaroo, which will open up the Copper Coast, the Clare Valley and maybe the Southern Flinders. It was really a great opportunity to inject $145 million into the economy last year.

The issue the honourable member raised is one of ongoing discussion with the South Australian Tourism Commission, the Kangaroo Island Council and, of course, the tourism operators on Kangaroo Island. The discussions are ongoing. The Tourism Commission does provide services on the island to help with the cruise ships when they arrive. At this point in time there are ongoing discussions with the South Australian Tourism Commission in relation to how that service may be provided but there are no discussions at this point that are live and current, that I am aware of, in relation to charging.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, a supplementary.