❓ The WA government has been in negotiations with start-up airlines to increase competition and reduce airfares. Virgin Blue hopes to enter the market early next year, while Impulse is 2-3 years away. The Premier criticises the Labor party's lack of tourism policy.
AnsweredQoN 41Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) What negotiations has the State Government had with new start-up airlines? (2) What timetable have the airlines proposed to enter the Western Australian market? Mr COURT
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
(2) What timetable have the airlines proposed to enter the Western Australian market? Mr COURT replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
Mr COURT replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
(1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
(2) What timetable have the airlines proposed to enter the Western Australian market? Mr COURT replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
Mr COURT replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. (1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
(1)-(2) Through different agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Transport and the Tourism Commission, the Government has been dealing with each of the three proposed start-up companies; that is, Spirit Airlines Pty Ltd, Virgin Blue Airlines Pty Ltd and Impulse Airlines Pty Ltd. A report in the media indicated that the Government had not been dealing aggressively enough with one of those firms. The consistent message from Impulse Airlines has been at all times that it is about two to three years away from being able to fly into Western Australian. I rang Mr Gerry McGowan of Impulse Airlines yesterday because in recent weeks we have had negotiations with that airline. His very clear message was along the lines that the airline must crawl before it can walk. Impulse has been operating for nine weeks and its directors are very pleased with its progress. However, Impulse does not have the planes capable of flying into this State. As Gerry McGowan said on radio yesterday, the only thing this Government can do to help the company at this point is to buy a plane capable of doing that work. Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money. Mr McGowan: Hear, hear! Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
Nevertheless, we have had very strong interest from Virgin Blue Airlines. We have dealt with that company almost daily and it has indicated its first planes will not be capable of flying the Perth route. However, it hopes to have its new planes early next year when it will be keen to come into this market. I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
I have been a vocal critic of the current duopoly. I believe Western Australians have been ripped off with their airfares, which the airlines have been slowly increasing in recent years. We have not had the benefit of true competition. The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
The latest national visitor survey shows that interstate travel to Western Australia grew by approximately 15.7 per cent compared with the previous year, when most States had virtually no increase. Tourism numbers interstate have been particularly strong. They would certainly be helped if we were able to participate in the cut-price fares associated with the competition coming into that market. At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
At the same time, we have heard constant negativity from Labor members. The member for Rockingham, the spokesperson for Tourism, said that the Elle campaign, which was a great success, has been a failure. The member for Rockingham also said that the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre subsidy is a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money.
Mr COURT: Does the member for Rockingham believe it is a waste of money even though it will create 5 000 jobs during construction and 3 000 jobs when in operation? With reference to the Partnership 21 strategy prepared in conjunction with the industry, he said that Mr Moore's version of a partnership looked more like a dictatorship. The day before that strategy was released he said, "I'm not into criticising for criticising's sake." He could have fooled me! The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
The Labor Party does not have a tourism policy. I am sure that when it is released, it will not take too long to read it. The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
The SPEAKER: Order! I will extend question time today.
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