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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-28 Daily Xml
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TOURISM COMMISSION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:27): Yesterday the Minister for Tourism released and tabled the annual report of the South Australian Tourism Commission. It is my honour this afternoon to present the annual report into the South Australian tourism minister. The 2011-12 financial year has been a difficult one for the minister. The minister has met these formidable challenges with an indomitable resolve that has been matched, even exceeded, only by the minister's capacity for dismal failure.

The warning signs were there in 2011. Even then, the minister failed to reach the State Strategic Plan's growth targets for tourism expenditure. The failure continued as the year progressed. In 2012 the State Strategic Plan's progress report found the minister likely to fail to reach her target of $6.3 billion in the industry by 2014, the election year.

To achieve the 2014 milestone, the minister needs to grow tourism by 10 per cent each year. Last year it grew by 5.3 per cent. It grew by just over half the amount needed. How does the minister excuse such ineptitude? Her commission calls this failure 'a positive performance towards the State's Strategic Plan 2020 targets'.

A positive performance? She gets half marks and rates herself a positive performer. She is happy with half marks and she is a long time loser. The audit committee rates her chances of achieving the State's Strategic Plan 2020 target as unlikely. The minister calls her failure to run a high-profile, easily accessible visitor information centre in the heart of the central business district a success. Our 2011-12 annual report into the minister's performance calls this failure a failure.

When the minister sacked the Tourism Commission's chief executive she replaced him with a part-timer. The minister calls this sacking 'an appointment', and an appointment of an interim chief executive not just an achievement, but a 'key achievement'. Well, if that is the key, show us the lock. In her other achievements for the year the minister claims that the annual Christmas parade through Adelaide is a major tourism event. Event it is, but the only international visitor I saw at the pageant came on a sleigh.

She is away with the birds. In fact, what benefit did South Australia receive from the commission's trip to the London Wild Bird Watch Consumer Show? Our ministerial representative, at taxpayers' expense, flew to London on a $6,100 trip to be able, according to the meeting organisers, to try on and try out footwear, clothing, gadgets, accessories and equipment that is under-represented or just simply not available on the average high street.

That is vitally important; that is how she spends our money. The London Wild Bird Watch aims to create 'a unique blend of shop, learn and do for people who enjoy feeding the birds in their garden'. Under this minister, we are in cuckoo land. I note with great disappointment that the minister's commission is not planning a similar birdwatching event in South Australia, despite the valuable lessons learnt by Ms Gago's representative at the London show.

Next, the minister's commission sent a staffer to the UK, USA, Germany and Singapore for an unknown time to conduct an internal audit of international offices and review the accounts payable procedure. Let me say that again: to review the accounts payable procedure, someone was sent to the UK, USA, Germany and Singapore. Here is how you run an accounts payable procedure: you get an account, you pay it—end of procedure.

How much did this trip cost taxpayers? It cost $11,500. Meanwhile, we have a part-time boss of a $5 billion-a-year industry, we have a complete debacle over Tasting Australia, a demoralised Tourism Commission with no confidence in its minister; we are missing tourism targets, our operators are screaming for more visitors, our visitors cannot find the visitor information centre, and we are sending commission staff to go birdwatching in London.

South Australian schoolkids are now getting their annual reports. The annual report card of the minister's performance this year marks her an 'F'—fail. But, we do not want her to repeat the year. We do not want her as tourism minister in 2013, the industry does not want her, and tourism operators do not want her. Houseboat companies, hire car operators, B&Bs, wineries, the food sector, the hotel industry, tourism guides, and fishing boat charter companies all say, 'If your best is a fail, please don't fail to leave.'

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