❓ Opposition questions the Minister for Tourism regarding the decision to cut the cellar door rebate and its potential negative impact on tourism businesses, particularly in wine regions. The Minister deflects responsibility, stating the decision originated with the Minister for Agriculture and Food.
AnsweredQoN 546Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOURISM — CELLAR DOOR REBATE
546. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for
Tourism:
I refer to your government's decision to cut the cellar door
rebate and impose significant additional costs on key tourism operators in
Margaret River, the Geographe area, great southern, Perth hills and Swan Valley.
(1) Why did not the minister not even consult
with the winery tourism businesses affected before announcing the cut in the
budget?
(2) Does the minister agree with Wines of
Western Australia that, and I quote, it is clear from the budget papers and in
subsequent media announcements that the economic impact of the decision was not
considered?
(3) Is the minister aware that the owners of
the affected businesses have confirmed the cut will result in loss of jobs in
restaurants attached to cellar doors and cancellation of significant tourism
projects like hotels and wineries?
546. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for
Tourism:
I refer to your government's decision to cut the cellar door
rebate and impose significant additional costs on key tourism operators in
Margaret River, the Geographe area, great southern, Perth hills and Swan Valley.
(1) Why did not the minister not even consult
with the winery tourism businesses affected before announcing the cut in the
budget?
(2) Does the minister agree with Wines of
Western Australia that, and I quote, it is clear from the budget papers and in
subsequent media announcements that the economic impact of the decision was not
considered?
(3) Is the minister aware that the owners of
the affected businesses have confirmed the cut will result in loss of jobs in
restaurants attached to cellar doors and cancellation of significant tourism
projects like hotels and wineries?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I am happy to answer this
question as the Minister for Tourism, but clearly it was not initiated by me or
by the Western Australian Tourism Commission; this was initiated by the
Minister for Agriculture and Food. The proposal that was put forward that was
accepted by cabinet was that this would affect only a limited number of
operators—the larger operators in the industry—and that the
very strong view held by those putting forward the proposal was that it would
not have a significant effect on tourism and on those people who were putting
it forward. I have not yet seen any evidence to the contrary. I know there are
concerns being expressed by those involved in the industry. In particular, I
have seen some letters suggesting that it will not just affect the big
operators and that the smaller operators will be affected as well, but I have
not seen any evidence to suggest that is true.
question as the Minister for Tourism, but clearly it was not initiated by me or
by the Western Australian Tourism Commission; this was initiated by the
Minister for Agriculture and Food. The proposal that was put forward that was
accepted by cabinet was that this would affect only a limited number of
operators—the larger operators in the industry—and that the
very strong view held by those putting forward the proposal was that it would
not have a significant effect on tourism and on those people who were putting
it forward. I have not yet seen any evidence to the contrary. I know there are
concerns being expressed by those involved in the industry. In particular, I
have seen some letters suggesting that it will not just affect the big
operators and that the smaller operators will be affected as well, but I have
not seen any evidence to suggest that is true.
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.