❓ Question regarding the audience size and economic benefits to Western Australia of hosting the Top Gear live show in Perth. The Minister clarifies his initial misunderstanding and defends the government's investment in the event, highlighting its potential for tourism marketing in South-East Asia.
AnsweredQoN 544Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOP GEAR — PERTH FILMING
I refer to the member for Jandakot’s question to the minister last week, not about his vehicle, but about the exciting news that a live version of the United Kingdom show Top Gear with presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May will be staged here in Perth in December, and I ask that the minister clarify what the audience of the show will be and the benefit to WA — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES
I refer to the member for Jandakot’s question to the minister last week, not about his vehicle, but about the exciting news that a live version of the United Kingdom show Top Gear with presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May will be staged here in Perth in December, and I ask that the minister clarify what the audience of the show will be and the benefit to WA — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr A.D. Buti interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first time today. If other members want to ask questions in this place, they need to seek the call. I believe I gave the call to the member for Riverton. Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr M.D. NAHAN : I ask the minister to clarify, for the benefit of the house, what the audience of that show will be and the benefits to WA of hosting that show. Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr Speaker, this is my opportunity to do a mea culpa. I did get it wrong last week. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It is a good thing that a couple of members of this house are obviously far more avid watchers of Top Gear than I am. I refer to the member for Cannington who tweeted—he is a good tweeter—that I obviously did not understand it properly and did not know the difference between the stage show and Top Gear live, which I admit is probably true. Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I will let members know why I made the mistake. The information I got from Tourism WA is quite clear. It did not say that there would be a viewing audience of 385 — Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : Million! Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : The information says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version — Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Have a listen! It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
It says that Perth has won the rights to host the live arena version of internationally acclaimed and award-winning BBC television series Top Gear —which we have—and goes on to say that Top Gear is in its seventeenth season, with a global viewing audience of 385 million. I assumed from that information that the event would be recorded—not that it would be live, obviously—and shown to that viewing audience. As it turns out, that is not true. The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The member for Perth, who surprisingly is not the shadow Minister for Tourism, tried to flog me on this matter on the Geoff Hutchison show, and said that the money that had been put into this show was wasted and that we should not be funding events like this. I was very pleased that the phone calls that came in from the public were about 50–50 in support of what the government is doing in promoting Top Gear . It shows how far removed the member for Perth is from what the ordinary people—people I would think may be Labor supporters—want, because all these guys rang in and said, “Come on! Get a life! This is something that we love to do and a program that we would love to see; and good on the government for promoting it and putting money into bringing such a great event to Perth.” Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Most of the money that has been put in — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It is hard. There are a lot of catcalls from the back benches, Mr Speaker. Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : But what did you believe when you signed the agreement to fund it? Did you think you were funding an audience of 385 million or 35 000 when you agreed to that multi-hundred thousand dollars worth of funding? Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : It does not work like that. Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : That’s the question. The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Perth! Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I have to say to the member for Perth that if he had been the former Minister for Tourism or had spoken to anyone who has been Minister for Tourism, he would understand that it does not work like that. I do not sign off — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t read the briefing notes; you just sign the cheque! Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : No, because I do not sign them at all. Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : They don’t talk to you! Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : An independent body was created that makes the decisions on events of that nature. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I was aware that the event was being sponsored—not by my decision, but by a decision of Tourism WA—and I might say that it was an excellent decision. That money that has been put in place will be used for marketing, particularly in South-East Asia. I reckon the member for Perth will be down there counting the number of Asian faces as they walk through the door. The reality is that I do not really care how many come because what we want to promote — Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr J.N. Hyde : You don’t care? You’re the tourism minister! Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : I care how many people go but I do not care about whether the advertising that we do attracts large numbers of tourists from South-East Asia. We want to promote Western Australia in South-East Asia and we are working very hard to increase the number of tourists who come from that region, but I am happy for us to provide entertainment for Western Australians. If that is what it does, great! It also gives us the opportunity to show that Western Australia is not a boring place to be; it an exciting place. We provide activity and entertainment to entertain Western Australians and people from overseas who want to come to Western Australia. The tickets go on sale today. It will be very interesting to see how many sales we get. I hope members opposite will buy a ticket. Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Mr F.M. Logan interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
Dr K.D. HAMES : We have sold a ticket already!
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.