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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-11-20 Daily Xml
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TOURISM

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:38): I will spend my brief time today talking about the tourism industry in South Australia and, more particularly, I will refer to the South Australian tourism plan 2003-08. First, it is important for us to return briefly to the Victoria Park grandstand proposal and the issue which, quite clearly, is dividing government members, the Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Minister for Tourism over the lack of direction, the lack of push and the lack of guts, I would suggest, in getting on and building this thing.

Unfortunately, my impression is that the Minister for Tourism just does not like the Clipsal 500 and does not want to have a bar of it and, more importantly, does not want to see anyone enjoy themselves in a half decent grandstand. That is a major cause for concern, and I do not think that sort of leadership of the state tourism industry is impressing anyone, whether they be in the car racing industry, the accommodation industry, the horse racing industry, the restaurant business, or anything else. I think it is a disgrace and I think it is about time that it is fixed up.

I refer to the industry challenges put out by the government for 2003-08, the first of which is awareness—improving the market's knowledge of South Australia and appreciation of what it has to offer. The first thing we have seen is consistent and regular marketing cuts to the tourism budget since the Rann government came into power, which is not helping the job at all. That is being picked up by operators.

Appeal—improving the appeal of South Australian destinations by value-adding to our inherent strengths and attributes. I ask the government: what has it done? If it were not for the industry sector's input, nothing would appear to have been done.

Air links—improving the frequency, capacity and cost of flights to Adelaide and within regional South Australia. Quite frankly, what has happened is the government has cocked up the airline industry. Singapore Airlines has announced extra flights, and that is terrific. Tiger Airways came in and said that it would run flights in and out of Adelaide. We actually lost the opportunity for that company to be based in Adelaide, and that is a great disappointment. There seems to be a fair bit of conflict, to my way of thinking, between the government and the airline industry. Indeed, I am led to believe that Qantas is not at all impressed.

Policy—creating a positive policy environment and management strategies to ensure sustainable tourism. What is being done? Nothing.

Dispersal of benefits—encouraging visitors to the regions by increasing the destination appeal of regions based on their inherent strengths. I turn straight to the River Murray and the lakes because, apart from fluffy, buffy statements in the house, it has been suggested that they concentrate and try to encourage people to visit the river, such as from the border down to Goolwa, but nothing has been done. We are targeting the individual regions separately, instead of these people getting support from the government in this time of great crisis in a concentrated campaign.

Accommodation—improving the quality and capacity of accommodation that is part of and reflects the local experience. How much of this has happened? There has been a fair bit of talk, but I have not seen a lot of action.

Investment—improving tourism as an attractive investment option, especially 'green' investment. The only thing I can really think of is the Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island. Thankfully, the minister in the other place and a few others pushed this development, thereby hastening its completion. I am very pleased that has happened, but I do not think much more has been done there.

Infrastructure—ensuring the support facilities optimise the visitor's experience and convenience (things like airports, roads, signs, lookouts, walkways, environmental management, toilets, etc). Well, they are all falling into a state of disrepair. If you leave North Adelaide or the coffee shops in Norwood and go out and about the traps, you will see that nothing has been done. Indeed, only a couple of weeks ago the Public Works Committee was talking about the repairs to infrastructure in parks in the Hills that was caused by flooding a few years ago still not having been done.

Technology—being innovative and taking advantage of opportunities that technology provides without losing the personal touch. What has happened there? It is a cause of great concern to me, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I can assure you that it is a cause of concern to the tourism industry in South Australia, that little or nothing seems to be on the priority list. Marketing cuts in the state budget are not helping at all. Operators are feeling frustrated and very much on their own, and they are wondering what is going on. It is all very well for the Premier and the minister to stand up and make major statements about good news. However, there is bad news as well.

Time expired.

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