❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Tourism about the broken Rottnest Island booking system despite significant investment. The Minister blames the previous government for neglecting the system's maintenance and highlights current government initiatives to improve Rottnest Island.
AnsweredQoN 585Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROTTNEST ISLAND —
BOOKING SYSTEM
585. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Tourism:
Can
I start by extending our condolences to the Premier and his family, on behalf
of the Parliamentary Liberal Party .
Given
the millions of taxpayers' dollars spent to promote Rottnest Island
tourism, including attracting Roger Federer, can the minister explain how he
has not managed to fix the Rottnest Island booking system, which is still
broken after 53 days? Can the minister confirm that this situation is an
embarrassing joke by the standards of international tourism?
BOOKING SYSTEM
585. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Tourism:
Can
I start by extending our condolences to the Premier and his family, on behalf
of the Parliamentary Liberal Party .
Given
the millions of taxpayers' dollars spent to promote Rottnest Island
tourism, including attracting Roger Federer, can the minister explain how he
has not managed to fix the Rottnest Island booking system, which is still
broken after 53 days? Can the minister confirm that this situation is an
embarrassing joke by the standards of international tourism?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
I am ropeable about the state of Rottnest Island's information
technology that we inherited from the member's government. It is
appalling!
Several members interjected.
Mr P. PAPALIA : Does the
member know why I am so angry? It is because of the fantastic job that the
McGowan government has been doing to reinvigorate the Western Australian
population's love affair with Rottnest Island!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Through
the Chair, minister.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough, do you realise you are on three calls? The next one will be the
last one.
Mr P. PAPALIA : When we took
office, it became evident that Rottnest had been languishing under the Barnett
regime. I heard about a project proposal that had waited for seven years for a decision
by a minister. That was the proposal for the Rottnest Lodge resort, which
everyone now knows is going ahead. The Pinky's Beach glamping resort
proposal sat in the in-tray for four years, which I think was about four
ministers' worth. It was not waiting for a decision, but to hear
whether the Rottnest Island Authority would let the project go ahead. When I got
the job, I said to the executive director of Rottnest Island Authority, ''I
don't care whether the projects are approved; just give them an answer.''
Within six months, both those projects had a pathway forward. We now know that
the glamping resort will be open by December and, by the end of next year, the
Rottnest Lodge will be a resort, the scale of which has never been seen on
Rottnest. The investment is going ahead. That is why I am disappointed. In
October, we authorised a third ferry service and, the day the ferry service
commenced, we dropped the access fee by 30 per cent for people right across Western
Australia to get to Rottnest Island. That massively increased visitation
numbers to the island. In that seven months until the end of the financial
year, the number of visitors increased to such an extent that visitor numbers
to the island for the entire year improved by 14 per cent. That was entirely
down to the McGowan government's decisions and actions.
So of course I am angry and
disappointed that the system we inherited for booking people through to the
island's accommodation, which is operated by Oracle, was known to have
been inadequate since 2016. The Rottnest Island Authority had been working to
improve the system and, from the start of this year, was aware that the online
accommodation booking system would no longer be compliant with payment card
industry data security standards. Payment processes would not be able to work
with the old legacy system that was inherited from the previous government. The
Rottnest Island Authority negotiated with both Oracle and the payment system
providers to ensure there would not be a gap. Obviously, that failed. Right
now, it is disappointing because there has to be a workaround so they are doing
telephone bookings. I am told that the system will be repaired by next week.
Ultimately, the reason that the system fell over is that, as far back as 2016,
it was known it would become inadequate. It needed repair or replacement and
nothing was done. Perhaps the member should ask my predecessor why the system
is down, because he is responsible.
I am ropeable about the state of Rottnest Island's information
technology that we inherited from the member's government. It is
appalling!
Several members interjected.
Mr P. PAPALIA : Does the
member know why I am so angry? It is because of the fantastic job that the
McGowan government has been doing to reinvigorate the Western Australian
population's love affair with Rottnest Island!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Through
the Chair, minister.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough, do you realise you are on three calls? The next one will be the
last one.
Mr P. PAPALIA : When we took
office, it became evident that Rottnest had been languishing under the Barnett
regime. I heard about a project proposal that had waited for seven years for a decision
by a minister. That was the proposal for the Rottnest Lodge resort, which
everyone now knows is going ahead. The Pinky's Beach glamping resort
proposal sat in the in-tray for four years, which I think was about four
ministers' worth. It was not waiting for a decision, but to hear
whether the Rottnest Island Authority would let the project go ahead. When I got
the job, I said to the executive director of Rottnest Island Authority, ''I
don't care whether the projects are approved; just give them an answer.''
Within six months, both those projects had a pathway forward. We now know that
the glamping resort will be open by December and, by the end of next year, the
Rottnest Lodge will be a resort, the scale of which has never been seen on
Rottnest. The investment is going ahead. That is why I am disappointed. In
October, we authorised a third ferry service and, the day the ferry service
commenced, we dropped the access fee by 30 per cent for people right across Western
Australia to get to Rottnest Island. That massively increased visitation
numbers to the island. In that seven months until the end of the financial
year, the number of visitors increased to such an extent that visitor numbers
to the island for the entire year improved by 14 per cent. That was entirely
down to the McGowan government's decisions and actions.
So of course I am angry and
disappointed that the system we inherited for booking people through to the
island's accommodation, which is operated by Oracle, was known to have
been inadequate since 2016. The Rottnest Island Authority had been working to
improve the system and, from the start of this year, was aware that the online
accommodation booking system would no longer be compliant with payment card
industry data security standards. Payment processes would not be able to work
with the old legacy system that was inherited from the previous government. The
Rottnest Island Authority negotiated with both Oracle and the payment system
providers to ensure there would not be a gap. Obviously, that failed. Right
now, it is disappointing because there has to be a workaround so they are doing
telephone bookings. I am told that the system will be repaired by next week.
Ultimately, the reason that the system fell over is that, as far back as 2016,
it was known it would become inadequate. It needed repair or replacement and
nothing was done. Perhaps the member should ask my predecessor why the system
is down, because he is responsible.
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