❓ The Minister for Tourism responds to questions about the WA government's $173 million investment in tourism, highlighting its importance for economic diversification and job creation. The answer boasts record visitor spending and the success of major events in attracting tourists and boosting the economy.
AnsweredQoN 318Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET 2023–24 — TOURISM
318. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's tourism strategy to attract visitors to Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what the record investment of $173 million in
last week's budget will mean for the WA tourism industry?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on how the facilitation of exclusive major events in
WA is providing significant economic and social benefits for all Western Australians?
318. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's tourism strategy to attract visitors to Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house what the record investment of $173 million in
last week's budget will mean for the WA tourism industry?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on how the facilitation of exclusive major events in
WA is providing significant economic and social benefits for all Western Australians?
AnswerView source ↗
I would like to
thank the member for the question; it is a very important one.
(1)–(2) Tourism is an important part of our efforts to
diversify the Western Australian economy and provide great local jobs for
people throughout this state. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join the
member for Kalgoorlie at the Perth Airport WA Regional Tourism
Conference in Kalgoorlie, hosted by the Tourism Council Western Australia, at
which we were able to talk about our respect for and great appreciation of the
resilience of the tourism industry in taking us through the most difficult
period in our lives—that is, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our record
$173 million budget for tourism is about continuing to stand by the industry in
not only the good times, but also the bad to make sure that it gets through these difficult times and now can move
forward together to really get this industry going once again.
I
am very proud to say that we had a total visitor spend for 2022—effectively,
we are talking about April to December 2022 after the borders opened in
March—of $14 billion. I want to contrast that with pre-COVID numbers
when we had the highest record number of total visitor spend of $13.5 billion,
so half a billion dollars more than our highest season ever.
Mr P. Papalia : A better
minister.
Mr R.H. COOK : I stand on the
shoulders of other great tourism ministers.
We
are immensely proud of the industry and the work that it is doing, but I am
also immensely proud of the McGowan government's effort and its
$173 million record budget for tourism, which stands in stark contrast with the
total budget for tourism spending in 2015–16, which was just $89 million.
We are putting in the hard work to make sure that we can stand by this industry
once again.
Of course, an important part of that
is continuing to attract world-class events because we know that world-class
events drive visitors to Western Australia and that in turn leads to people
spending in our pubs, clubs, cafes and hotels. They support the hospitality and
tourism industry and continue to encourage people to get out into Western Australia—to
''Wander Out Yonder'' and ''Discover a Place Like No Other''
in the dreamlike state of Western Australia. Of that $14 billion spend, $6.8 billion
was spent in regional Western Australia, so almost half. That is a huge boom
for the regions. These events play an important part in increasing our standard
of living in Western Australia. They make Perth in particular, but our regions
also, a great place to visit, live, work and play. We know that, if we can
continue to grow events like High Voltage, a great event that was held last
weekend that saw over 40 000 people go into
Fremantle and see the member for Fremantle and rock around the streets of
Fremantle just enjoying everything AC/DC.
There
has been a lot of excitement this week around Coldplay, who will be performing
at Optus Stadium in November —a really exciting opportunity for
everyone. We know that the Ed Sheeran concert had about 70 000 attendees at
Optus Stadium. We will fill that stadium twice over. The delightful part of
that is that over 70 per cent of the tickets were sold to people in Western Australia,
so people in WA get to enjoy it as well, although, sadly, not the member for
Collie–Preston. I saw her sitting down yesterday on her phone, in the
queue, prior to Parliament starting. She had a mere 200 000 people ahead of her
in the queue. I am sorry that your patience was not rewarded, member for Collie–Preston.
I saw a tweet from Jakarta today when one punter expressed dismay that they had
half a million people ahead of them in the
queue, so these things are all relative. I can also dispel the vicious rumour
going through the community at the moment that the Leader of the House
will be performing a duet with Chris Martin. That will not take place. We want
to create world-class tourism event experiences. Sadly, the Leader of the House
will not be able to add to the quality of the performance. These are great
events.
Government members: Harsh!
Mr R.H. COOK : Harsh?
These
are important events. We will welcome tens of thousands of people to Western Australia
as a result of Coldplay coming to Western Australia as part of its Asian
tour. I think we will see many international acts contemplating Western Australia as an exclusive event opportunity
as part of their Asian tour in the future. Coldplay will be in Jakarta
before coming to us and then they will move from Perth to Singapore. It is a great
opportunity for Western Australia and it is a great opportunity for Western Australians
to continue to see great world-class events happening
in Western Australia. It is a great opportunity for the tourism and hospitality
industry as we drive visitation to our state and really create a great
economic boom for WA.
thank the member for the question; it is a very important one.
(1)–(2) Tourism is an important part of our efforts to
diversify the Western Australian economy and provide great local jobs for
people throughout this state. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join the
member for Kalgoorlie at the Perth Airport WA Regional Tourism
Conference in Kalgoorlie, hosted by the Tourism Council Western Australia, at
which we were able to talk about our respect for and great appreciation of the
resilience of the tourism industry in taking us through the most difficult
period in our lives—that is, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our record
$173 million budget for tourism is about continuing to stand by the industry in
not only the good times, but also the bad to make sure that it gets through these difficult times and now can move
forward together to really get this industry going once again.
I
am very proud to say that we had a total visitor spend for 2022—effectively,
we are talking about April to December 2022 after the borders opened in
March—of $14 billion. I want to contrast that with pre-COVID numbers
when we had the highest record number of total visitor spend of $13.5 billion,
so half a billion dollars more than our highest season ever.
Mr P. Papalia : A better
minister.
Mr R.H. COOK : I stand on the
shoulders of other great tourism ministers.
We
are immensely proud of the industry and the work that it is doing, but I am
also immensely proud of the McGowan government's effort and its
$173 million record budget for tourism, which stands in stark contrast with the
total budget for tourism spending in 2015–16, which was just $89 million.
We are putting in the hard work to make sure that we can stand by this industry
once again.
Of course, an important part of that
is continuing to attract world-class events because we know that world-class
events drive visitors to Western Australia and that in turn leads to people
spending in our pubs, clubs, cafes and hotels. They support the hospitality and
tourism industry and continue to encourage people to get out into Western Australia—to
''Wander Out Yonder'' and ''Discover a Place Like No Other''
in the dreamlike state of Western Australia. Of that $14 billion spend, $6.8 billion
was spent in regional Western Australia, so almost half. That is a huge boom
for the regions. These events play an important part in increasing our standard
of living in Western Australia. They make Perth in particular, but our regions
also, a great place to visit, live, work and play. We know that, if we can
continue to grow events like High Voltage, a great event that was held last
weekend that saw over 40 000 people go into
Fremantle and see the member for Fremantle and rock around the streets of
Fremantle just enjoying everything AC/DC.
There
has been a lot of excitement this week around Coldplay, who will be performing
at Optus Stadium in November —a really exciting opportunity for
everyone. We know that the Ed Sheeran concert had about 70 000 attendees at
Optus Stadium. We will fill that stadium twice over. The delightful part of
that is that over 70 per cent of the tickets were sold to people in Western Australia,
so people in WA get to enjoy it as well, although, sadly, not the member for
Collie–Preston. I saw her sitting down yesterday on her phone, in the
queue, prior to Parliament starting. She had a mere 200 000 people ahead of her
in the queue. I am sorry that your patience was not rewarded, member for Collie–Preston.
I saw a tweet from Jakarta today when one punter expressed dismay that they had
half a million people ahead of them in the
queue, so these things are all relative. I can also dispel the vicious rumour
going through the community at the moment that the Leader of the House
will be performing a duet with Chris Martin. That will not take place. We want
to create world-class tourism event experiences. Sadly, the Leader of the House
will not be able to add to the quality of the performance. These are great
events.
Government members: Harsh!
Mr R.H. COOK : Harsh?
These
are important events. We will welcome tens of thousands of people to Western Australia
as a result of Coldplay coming to Western Australia as part of its Asian
tour. I think we will see many international acts contemplating Western Australia as an exclusive event opportunity
as part of their Asian tour in the future. Coldplay will be in Jakarta
before coming to us and then they will move from Perth to Singapore. It is a great
opportunity for Western Australia and it is a great opportunity for Western Australians
to continue to see great world-class events happening
in Western Australia. It is a great opportunity for the tourism and hospitality
industry as we drive visitation to our state and really create a great
economic boom for WA.
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