❓ Opposition MP Papalia questions the Tourism Minister Harvey about budget cuts and broken election promises related to Tourism WA funding. The Minister defends the budget as the largest ever and addresses advertising expenditure concerns.
AnsweredQoN 430Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOURISM WA
— BUDGET
430. Mr P. PAPALIA to the
Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the minister's claim reported in today's The West Australian that she will fund Treasury-imposed cuts to the
tourism budget through a reduction in cash assets of $2.4 million.
(1) Is it not
the case that the minister's approach will have a $2.4 million impact
on net debt and further undermine the Treasurer's fiscal action plan?
(2) Has the
minister received approval from the Treasurer to undertake this measure?
(3) Given that
the government has broken a key election commitment to the tourism industry to
increase funding to the Tourism Commission by $6 million annually, does this
not exacerbate her broken promise to the industry?
— BUDGET
430. Mr P. PAPALIA to the
Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the minister's claim reported in today's The West Australian that she will fund Treasury-imposed cuts to the
tourism budget through a reduction in cash assets of $2.4 million.
(1) Is it not
the case that the minister's approach will have a $2.4 million impact
on net debt and further undermine the Treasurer's fiscal action plan?
(2) Has the
minister received approval from the Treasurer to undertake this measure?
(3) Given that
the government has broken a key election commitment to the tourism industry to
increase funding to the Tourism Commission by $6 million annually, does this
not exacerbate her broken promise to the industry?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
It is really interesting that the member for Warnbro alludes to a cut in the
Tourism WA budget when this year the Tourism WA budget exceeds $85 million,
which is the biggest budget that Tourism WA has ever had in the state's
history.
Several members interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
will refer to what the member for Warnbro is talking about with the advertising
expenditure.
Mr
P. Papalia : That would be nice.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I am really pleased I have the member's attention. One
of the ways that the government was looking at to try to rein in expenditure
was to put a freeze on advertising expenditure. Tourism WA was requested to
find some savings in its advertising expenditure. However, a lot of the
advertising expenditure had been pre-committed and the spend had already been made.
We are working through that with Tourism WA and I will work through that with
the Treasurer to ensure that we can meet all the commitments that we have made
to our advertisers and ensure that we can maintain the rage with our fantastic
record with tourism in Western Australia.
We also have a cross-government
approach to tourism. We are spending over $20 million over the next four years,
which is geared at parks for people, our caravan parks and camping strategy, to
help boost tourism to the 14.2 per cent of visitors to the state who are here
on self-drive journeys.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have a very ambitious target, which is to increase the value of the tourism
spend in this state from $7.6 billion —
Point of Order
Mr P. PAPALIA : It
is an interesting question that the minister is answering; it is not the one I
asked. I ask that you draw to her attention the question in point. The
relevance of what she is saying is questionable.
The SPEAKER :
Minister, come to the point.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
The member prefaced his question with reference to a cut in the tourism budget.
I think it is really important to put out there that it is impossible to
declare a cut to a budget when it is the biggest budget ever delivered in
Western Australia at more than $85 million, so I fail to see how that can be a
cut.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Regarding
the government's commitment —
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! You heard what I said earlier. Nobody can
hear what the minister has to say. Minister, come to the point please and
answer the question.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : With regard to the government's commitment over four
years to increase the spend on tourism advertising by $24 million, this is the
first budget in a four-year cycle and, clearly, I need to do a bit more heavy
lifting to ensure that we meet the remainder of the commitment.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have funded $9 million of the $24 million in this year's budget
papers. We have four years to deliver on that commitment and, as Minister for Tourism,
it is my job to do that.
It is really interesting that the member for Warnbro alludes to a cut in the
Tourism WA budget when this year the Tourism WA budget exceeds $85 million,
which is the biggest budget that Tourism WA has ever had in the state's
history.
Several members interjected.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
will refer to what the member for Warnbro is talking about with the advertising
expenditure.
Mr
P. Papalia : That would be nice.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I am really pleased I have the member's attention. One
of the ways that the government was looking at to try to rein in expenditure
was to put a freeze on advertising expenditure. Tourism WA was requested to
find some savings in its advertising expenditure. However, a lot of the
advertising expenditure had been pre-committed and the spend had already been made.
We are working through that with Tourism WA and I will work through that with
the Treasurer to ensure that we can meet all the commitments that we have made
to our advertisers and ensure that we can maintain the rage with our fantastic
record with tourism in Western Australia.
We also have a cross-government
approach to tourism. We are spending over $20 million over the next four years,
which is geared at parks for people, our caravan parks and camping strategy, to
help boost tourism to the 14.2 per cent of visitors to the state who are here
on self-drive journeys.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have a very ambitious target, which is to increase the value of the tourism
spend in this state from $7.6 billion —
Point of Order
Mr P. PAPALIA : It
is an interesting question that the minister is answering; it is not the one I
asked. I ask that you draw to her attention the question in point. The
relevance of what she is saying is questionable.
The SPEAKER :
Minister, come to the point.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
The member prefaced his question with reference to a cut in the tourism budget.
I think it is really important to put out there that it is impossible to
declare a cut to a budget when it is the biggest budget ever delivered in
Western Australia at more than $85 million, so I fail to see how that can be a
cut.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : Regarding
the government's commitment —
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! You heard what I said earlier. Nobody can
hear what the minister has to say. Minister, come to the point please and
answer the question.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : With regard to the government's commitment over four
years to increase the spend on tourism advertising by $24 million, this is the
first budget in a four-year cycle and, clearly, I need to do a bit more heavy
lifting to ensure that we meet the remainder of the commitment.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
We have funded $9 million of the $24 million in this year's budget
papers. We have four years to deliver on that commitment and, as Minister for Tourism,
it is my job to do that.
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