❓ Mr. Morton asks the Minister for Tourism about streamlining approvals for new tourism products to reduce red tape. The Minister outlines a plan to create a coordinated group of agency representatives to address approval bottlenecks.
AnsweredQoN 657Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOURISM —
RED TAPE REDUCTION
657. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Tourism:
Mr Speaker, before I ask my question, with your indulgence
can I just acknowledge young Bryzlyn Sin and her family who are in your gallery
here this afternoon. Young Bryzlyn has recently returned, at the tender age of
10 years old, from playing piano at Carnegie Hall, and also at Sing50, which
celebrated 50 years of Singaporean music. Congratulations to Bryzlyn!
[Applause.]
Mr N.W. MORTON : My
question is to the Minister for Tourism. I understand the process to establish
a new tourism product in Western Australia can be both time-consuming and
challenging, often requiring the approval of several government agencies and
compliance with a range of requirements. Can the minister please advise the
house of what the Liberal‑National government is doing to help streamline
the approvals process and reduce red tape?
RED TAPE REDUCTION
657. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Tourism:
Mr Speaker, before I ask my question, with your indulgence
can I just acknowledge young Bryzlyn Sin and her family who are in your gallery
here this afternoon. Young Bryzlyn has recently returned, at the tender age of
10 years old, from playing piano at Carnegie Hall, and also at Sing50, which
celebrated 50 years of Singaporean music. Congratulations to Bryzlyn!
[Applause.]
Mr N.W. MORTON : My
question is to the Minister for Tourism. I understand the process to establish
a new tourism product in Western Australia can be both time-consuming and
challenging, often requiring the approval of several government agencies and
compliance with a range of requirements. Can the minister please advise the
house of what the Liberal‑National government is doing to help streamline
the approvals process and reduce red tape?
AnswerView source ↗
This is an issue that both I and the former shadow Minister
for Tourism Hon Michelle Roberts were involved in discussions on in the lead-up
to the last election. It was clear, in the presentations made to both of us,
that there was, at times, an issue in getting tourism approvals through the
process. Often, numerous agencies were involved in trying to get approval. It
was very time-consuming and very difficult to have to go from one agency to get
approval through that to another and then to another. Often those agencies were
not working together, and often the whole process was not coordinated. We have
now created a group of people delegated by each of those agencies. I recently
wrote to the Ministers for Transport; Planning; Environment; Lands; and Racing
and Gaming seeking support for such a committee when required. It will be on an
ad hoc basis when issues come forward that either seem to be very good ideas
that need a coordinated approach to get them started, or when a tourist agency
has been stuck with a particular agency or stuck with a series of agencies, to
try to pull those together. This group will come together whenever that is the
case, to try to move forward. I have spoken to each of those ministers, and
when required I will get those ministers together to discuss issues if there
are roadblocks created by any of those agencies that are seen to be
appropriate.
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : That commitment was made by the former shadow minister, and I
think it is a very good idea. There have not been a lot of issues for us to
need to start this sooner; there have not been a lot of specific things that
have come forward, but there are some in the wings, and we will get on and make
sure that they are sorted.
Tourism is critical for this state
as we move ahead. As we see the good times ease in the mining industry, it is
absolutely critical for this state to look at alternative sources of income and
employment. We see tourism and agriculture as the two key areas in which this
government needs to move forward and create opportunities, and this is one of
the ways we will do that.
for Tourism Hon Michelle Roberts were involved in discussions on in the lead-up
to the last election. It was clear, in the presentations made to both of us,
that there was, at times, an issue in getting tourism approvals through the
process. Often, numerous agencies were involved in trying to get approval. It
was very time-consuming and very difficult to have to go from one agency to get
approval through that to another and then to another. Often those agencies were
not working together, and often the whole process was not coordinated. We have
now created a group of people delegated by each of those agencies. I recently
wrote to the Ministers for Transport; Planning; Environment; Lands; and Racing
and Gaming seeking support for such a committee when required. It will be on an
ad hoc basis when issues come forward that either seem to be very good ideas
that need a coordinated approach to get them started, or when a tourist agency
has been stuck with a particular agency or stuck with a series of agencies, to
try to pull those together. This group will come together whenever that is the
case, to try to move forward. I have spoken to each of those ministers, and
when required I will get those ministers together to discuss issues if there
are roadblocks created by any of those agencies that are seen to be
appropriate.
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : That commitment was made by the former shadow minister, and I
think it is a very good idea. There have not been a lot of issues for us to
need to start this sooner; there have not been a lot of specific things that
have come forward, but there are some in the wings, and we will get on and make
sure that they are sorted.
Tourism is critical for this state
as we move ahead. As we see the good times ease in the mining industry, it is
absolutely critical for this state to look at alternative sources of income and
employment. We see tourism and agriculture as the two key areas in which this
government needs to move forward and create opportunities, and this is one of
the ways we will do that.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.