Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia, I present the committee's report entitled Northern horizons—unleashing our tourism potential: report on the inquiry into opportunities and methods for stimulating the tourism industry in northern Australia.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—Northern Australia has many natural advantages that make it a unique and unforgettable tourism destination. Northern Australia's varied and pristine natural landscapes and wilderness areas; its strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture; and its proximity to Asia present major tourism opportunities.

As well as providing incredible experiences for visitors, stimulating the tourism industry in Northern Australia will support the long-term economic and social development of the north. Tourism investment and development can also contribute to the sustainability of a large number of remote and regional communities.

While northern Australia's natural advantages are significant, there are a range of challenges facing tourism operators which has meant tourism growth has been inconsistent across the north.

This report outlines 33 recommendations to address these challenges with the aim of stimulating tourism in northern Australia. These recommendations focus on: enhancing the marketing of northern Australia, facilitating timely and affordable access to the north and its tourist attractions, supporting tourism operators and entrepreneurs, and improving the planning and coordination of the development of tourism destinations.

The Northern horizons report also identifies major areas of opportunity for tourism growth in the north, which reflect its natural attractions (such as coral reefs, beaches, tropical rainforests, desert, lakes and mountains), its rich Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and outback experiences and way of life. In particular, the committee examined ways to stimulate further investment in, and development of: eco, cultural, drive, educational and industrial tourism.

As well as holding public hearings and inspections across mainland northern Australia, the committee visited the Indian Ocean Territories. The committee found that there are untapped opportunities to expand the tourism offerings in the Indian Ocean Territories, but that challenges related to remoteness and limited tourism infrastructure have presented barriers to tourism growth. Reflecting these circumstances, the committee has made recommendations specifically focused on the development of tourism in the Indian Ocean Territories, including that the Christmas Island casino resort be reopened as a matter of absolute priority. This is similar to recommendations made by the national capital and external territories committee over successive parliaments. It was also a recommendation that we made in our first northern Australia report, the Pivot north report back in, I think, 2016.

A large proportion of the tourism industry in northern Australia is made up of small- to medium-sized businesses, many of which are family owned and operated. As such, the committee has made recommendations to ensure that government programs related to tourism are appropriately targeted to meet the needs of small- to medium-sized enterprises. This included recommending eligibility requirements for aspects of the Northern Australia Tourism Initiative be expanded to enable access for smaller businesses and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.

The Northern horizons report and its recommendations build on the predecessor committee's report Pivot north: inquiry into the development of northern Australia, released—I stand corrected—in 2014. Pivot north outlined a range of opportunities for development in the north, one of which was tourism. This report reiterates the recommendations outlined in Pivot north that relate to tourism, as well as the recommendations regarding the need to reduce insurance premiums—which are still very much an impost—upgrade roads and port infrastructure, and lower airport security and flight costs in Northern Australia.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the range of individuals, businesses, organisations and government agencies who provided information to this inquiry. In particular, I would like to thank the small tourism operators who took precious time away from their businesses to provide submissions, attend public hearings, and host committee inspections.

I would also like to thank committee members for their participation in this inquiry. In particular, I'd like to thank my deputy chair, the honourable member for Lingiari, sitting across from me here, for the very cooperative way in which he handled issues in developing the north. I'd like to thank all committee members and the secretariat for their ongoing commitment to the work that we're doing here and, of course, the economic and social development of northern Australia.

I commend the report to the House.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I've been so flattered by the member for Leichhardt that I need to respond! I thank the member for Leichhardt, the other members of the committee and the committee secretariat for the work which has been undertaken. We do have a good, joking relationship, which works well in our committee. I have to say that the participation of all the committee members over the period of this inquiry has been exceptional and the work of the committee secretariat has been very, very good. But I do want to just emphasise some points which have been made by the member for Leichhardt.

There are tourism opportunities yet to be realised and that remain untapped in northern Australia. It's not because people don't have vision or planning; they don't have the resources and many of them don't have the capital to meet the needs that they have. But most important is the infrastructure efficiency, whether it's in roads, ports or airports. These are issues which the report canvasses and which need to be addressed.

The other issue which I wanted to highlight very briefly was the comments made by the member for Leichhardt on the Indian Ocean Territories, part of my electorate and a wonderful part of Australia. It is a part of Australia most Australians have no knowledge or experience of. I would say to them, if they get the opportunity to visit either Christmas Island or Cocos Islands or both, they would value that experience, learn a great deal and enjoy it because of the attractions that exist in those two places, which are unique in the context of Australia. The report addresses some of the impediments to tourism in those two communities and makes recommendations to address them.

I want to again highlight the issue around the casino on Christmas Island. This has been a bugbear for 20 years now. It should've been addressed some time ago. People need to be offered the opportunity to apply for a casino licence on Christmas Island to facilitate the development of the casino resort once again. It was a very good undertaking when it operated initially. Sadly, it fell on hard times, but it was very profitable and employed a lot of people. That would happen again in the future. The closing of the immigration detention facility on Christmas Island which has employed hundreds of locals, and, over the medium term, the closure of the mining operation on Christmas Island will mean that we need alternative options. The principal alternative option will be the tourism industry. I would suggest to those people who read this report: understand that we have very much at the front of our minds the opportunities that would exist in the Indian Ocean territories as a result of investment in tourism.

Lastly, not because it's a hierarchy of comment but because it is important, the issues related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement with the tourism ministry have also been canvassed in this report. Around 50 per cent of the landmass in Northern Australia is owned in one way or another by Aboriginal people, either through land rights or a native title, and therefore they need to be engaged more often than they currently are. There is no doubt that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people see opportunity in the tourism industry. What I would like to think is that we can facilitate their engagement with and the growth of the tourism industry through the recommendations in this report. I thank all of those who gave their submissions and who tolerated our presence when we visited their communities.

Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.