Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate Sovereign Hill, a fantastic tourism facility in my electorate, which was the national gold winner of the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards on Friday night.

Mr Chester interjecting—

It is a terrific accolade—and it is quite fitting, as the member across the table says, to have a gold award for such a fantastic museum. I commend all of the staff there. I do have to declare a slight conflict of interest as my husband is the HR manager there! Sovereign Hill has managed to pick up this award on three occasions now: in 1993, in 2005 and now for the 2015 year. I really want to encourage people. I come across people from all walks of life who tell me, 'I've been to Sovereign Hill. I was there as a kid as part of the school program.' Come back. The great thing about Sovereign Hill is that it is constantly innovating. With its Christmas in July, the light show, the snow—I take my little boy each year—and the little stalls that are there, it is a fantastic innovation in tourism. They are really doing great things in China and have expanded the Chinese market.

I say to the staff: you are doing a terrific job. It shows what can happen from a very small idea. A small group of people in the 1970s got together and said, 'Let's build a gold museum. Let's build a recreation museum here in Sovereign Hill.' You would think that, at the time, people probably looked at them and thought they were a bit crazy, but what an amazing thing. It employs hundreds of people. Congratulations, Sovereign Hill. Well deserved. (Time expired)

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