❓ Question regarding the success of the Cook Labor government's event strategy in driving WA tourism, with the Minister outlining the economic benefits and visitor attraction of events like WWE and upcoming Italian football matches. The response devolves into political point-scoring.
AnsweredQoN 145Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOURISM — LIVE
ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS
145. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's always-on event strategy, which is helping to drive WA
tourism.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the government's success in hosting
unique, exclusive events, such as the WWE Elimination Chamber and the upcoming
Italian football blockbuster in May?
(2) Can the minister outline what these events mean
for visitors to Western Australia, local jobs and businesses?
ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS
145. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's always-on event strategy, which is helping to drive WA
tourism.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the government's success in hosting
unique, exclusive events, such as the WWE Elimination Chamber and the upcoming
Italian football blockbuster in May?
(2) Can the minister outline what these events mean
for visitors to Western Australia, local jobs and businesses?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. Of course, as part of our diversification of
the economy by growing other sectors across the economy, tourism is a key area
that we are focusing on, whether it be tourism infrastructure, direct flights
or the event strategy. The event strategy is very much aimed at making sure we give people a reason to come to WA and exposing
Western Australia to the rest of the world, and making sure that they
come back and they tell their families and friends. Of course, we have had some
incredible success over the past few years, whether it be Coldplay, the
Matildas or the range —
Mr R.S. Love : Why don't
you tell us how much it costs?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is in the
budget, member.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Leader of the Opposition, you have not asked this question; please do not
interject.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of
the Opposition is the angriest, saddest man in WA. This is the elimination
chamber between the National Party and the Liberal Party, members.
Ms J.J. Shaw : Let's get
ready to rumble!
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : An opposition
rumble!
Look
at the six of them. They cannot even agree on how to vote on a couple of pieces
of legislation. We saw it today . There was complete division and chaos.
They sit there, having a go at us, and they cannot even talk to each other.
They cannot even sit together each day and develop a strategy; it is pathetic.
They come in here and have a go at us fuelling the economy around the state.
All the things we are doing and they—there are six of you, for goodness
sake—cannot even sit together in a room and agree on a strategy.
Point of Order
Mr R.S. LOVE : Point of order,
Madam Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, points
of order are held in silence.
Mr R.S. LOVE : I seek your
ruling on the relevance of this answer, which was about tourism —
Ms S.E. Winton : You
interjected!
Mr R.S. LOVE : — and
has turned into, yet again, an attack on members of the opposition.
The SPEAKER : Minister! It is
a rather interesting interjection to be complaining about someone else
interjecting and saying they have
interjected. You have just interjected, and I will ask you not to do it again
for the rest of question time. I am not upholding the point of order on
that, but I ask the minister to return to the substance of the question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Thank you. We
are talking about wrestling, and we know what these guys are doing everyday:
wrestling on who should be asking the questions, what the questions should be
and how to vote, and then half of them run away when there is a vote to be had
or hide in the corridor behind the chamber. I have never seen that before.
There are six of them, and they cannot even sit in a room and agree on a question
time strategy.
Anyway. In the meantime, we are
growing the economy, creating jobs and delivering services around the state.
That is what we are doing in relation to the tourism industry, of course. It
has been recognised. The only person who seems to be upset about these events
is the Leader of the Opposition. We get feedback because of the range of events
we have. Whether they are into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the
wrestling, Coldplay or the arts, with our
new homegrown EverNow event as well, there is a whole range of homegrown events
and also blockbuster events. It is
with great pride that we are bringing two Serie A Italian teams to Perth. It
will be the first time that Rome has been here since 1966, and the first
time AC Milan has been here since 1980. We have not had Italian teams here
since 1996.
This is about getting more visitors
into WA. More recently, just on the weekend, the Tourism Council WA issued an
analysis on the economic output of the WWE Elimination Chamber, estimating that
$35 million was injected into the WA economy, with more than 329 full-time
jobs. This is about growing WA as a destination. The feedback I get is on not
only the visitation that we have, but also the social media and the fact that
Perth is then displayed around the world. We
saw that in particular with WWE's incredible coverage and demonstration
of WA as a place to visit. Members opposite, honestly, I have never seen
anything like it. Six of them cannot agree on anything, even what party they
should be a member of. They come in here being negative about the state, and
they cannot even agree which side of that little aisle they should be sitting
on or what their strategy should be.
thank the member for the question. Of course, as part of our diversification of
the economy by growing other sectors across the economy, tourism is a key area
that we are focusing on, whether it be tourism infrastructure, direct flights
or the event strategy. The event strategy is very much aimed at making sure we give people a reason to come to WA and exposing
Western Australia to the rest of the world, and making sure that they
come back and they tell their families and friends. Of course, we have had some
incredible success over the past few years, whether it be Coldplay, the
Matildas or the range —
Mr R.S. Love : Why don't
you tell us how much it costs?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is in the
budget, member.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Leader of the Opposition, you have not asked this question; please do not
interject.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of
the Opposition is the angriest, saddest man in WA. This is the elimination
chamber between the National Party and the Liberal Party, members.
Ms J.J. Shaw : Let's get
ready to rumble!
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : An opposition
rumble!
Look
at the six of them. They cannot even agree on how to vote on a couple of pieces
of legislation. We saw it today . There was complete division and chaos.
They sit there, having a go at us, and they cannot even talk to each other.
They cannot even sit together each day and develop a strategy; it is pathetic.
They come in here and have a go at us fuelling the economy around the state.
All the things we are doing and they—there are six of you, for goodness
sake—cannot even sit together in a room and agree on a strategy.
Point of Order
Mr R.S. LOVE : Point of order,
Madam Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, points
of order are held in silence.
Mr R.S. LOVE : I seek your
ruling on the relevance of this answer, which was about tourism —
Ms S.E. Winton : You
interjected!
Mr R.S. LOVE : — and
has turned into, yet again, an attack on members of the opposition.
The SPEAKER : Minister! It is
a rather interesting interjection to be complaining about someone else
interjecting and saying they have
interjected. You have just interjected, and I will ask you not to do it again
for the rest of question time. I am not upholding the point of order on
that, but I ask the minister to return to the substance of the question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Thank you. We
are talking about wrestling, and we know what these guys are doing everyday:
wrestling on who should be asking the questions, what the questions should be
and how to vote, and then half of them run away when there is a vote to be had
or hide in the corridor behind the chamber. I have never seen that before.
There are six of them, and they cannot even sit in a room and agree on a question
time strategy.
Anyway. In the meantime, we are
growing the economy, creating jobs and delivering services around the state.
That is what we are doing in relation to the tourism industry, of course. It
has been recognised. The only person who seems to be upset about these events
is the Leader of the Opposition. We get feedback because of the range of events
we have. Whether they are into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the
wrestling, Coldplay or the arts, with our
new homegrown EverNow event as well, there is a whole range of homegrown events
and also blockbuster events. It is
with great pride that we are bringing two Serie A Italian teams to Perth. It
will be the first time that Rome has been here since 1966, and the first
time AC Milan has been here since 1980. We have not had Italian teams here
since 1996.
This is about getting more visitors
into WA. More recently, just on the weekend, the Tourism Council WA issued an
analysis on the economic output of the WWE Elimination Chamber, estimating that
$35 million was injected into the WA economy, with more than 329 full-time
jobs. This is about growing WA as a destination. The feedback I get is on not
only the visitation that we have, but also the social media and the fact that
Perth is then displayed around the world. We
saw that in particular with WWE's incredible coverage and demonstration
of WA as a place to visit. Members opposite, honestly, I have never seen
anything like it. Six of them cannot agree on anything, even what party they
should be a member of. They come in here being negative about the state, and
they cannot even agree which side of that little aisle they should be sitting
on or what their strategy should be.
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