Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

PHILLIPS () (): I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that caravan parks are a popular holiday accommodation choice for Australians, particularly for families, budget-conscious travellers, and travellers who want to get off the beaten track and explore everything our country has to offer;

(2) commends the Government and the Minister for Trade and Tourism for the successful roll out of the Caravan Parks Grant Program which is delivering much needed improvements to caravan parks in the regions all across Australia; and

(3) encourages Australians to consider holidaying at home, all across regional Australia, and to continue to support local business owners and workers.

One of the things I notice—actually, you can't miss it—is the number of caravans travelling along the Princes Highway and into our South Coast towns and villages. Yes, it's fair to say caravanning holidays and trips are all the rage. Of course, they have always been popular—lower-cost family holidays that kids and parents remember forever, and retirees getting out and about and relaxing in our beautiful area. The lessons from COVID made the caravanning dream even more of a reality as people escaped and remembered what was important: time with loved ones and friends exploring.

There are so many economic benefits from tourism in our region. The tourism sector is made up of over 90 per cent small businesses—that is, businesses with less than 20 employees. On the South Coast, tourism brings massive economic benefits for our whole community. I'm proud to be part of a government that recognises the importance of supporting these businesses. That's why I'm thrilled with the Albanese government's Caravan Parks Grant Program, and I'm pleased to move this motion today.

The Caravan Parks Grant Program is funding $10 million across 111 projects throughout the country. I know that caravan parks are an essential part of our tourism offering on the South Coast, and I'm proud to be supporting them. I'm pleased that, through the Caravan Parks Grant Program, we've provided over $300,000 to support and enhance four local caravan parks across the South Coast with infrastructure upgrades. I want to ensure people can continue to travel and enjoy our beautiful region, supporting our local communities along the way, because I know that the small businesses supported by tourism are the lifeblood of our local economies. They provide employment opportunities and attract visitors who contribute to the growth and stability of our communities.

Caravan parks help facilitate this. They're great for families, budget conscious travellers and the grey nomads. But, really, they're popular with everyone; both domestic and international travellers who want to escape the bustling cities and explore our beautiful region flock to caravan parks. Caravan parks provide a place for visitors to stay and enjoy themselves, and play a pivotal role in bolstering regional economies. That's why we're supporting them.

On the South Coast, I was happy to award grants of $100,000 to BIG4 Moruya Heads Easts Dolphin Beach Holiday Park to help them finalise their site layout and cabin layout—this new layout will be used to provide accessible accommodation for people who are less mobile or living with disability; $26,000 to BIG4 Batemans Bay Easts Riverside Holiday Park, to help them expand their operation and improve the visitor experience; $93,000 to Alamein Caravan Park in Sussex Inlet, which will use this money to install a new recreational paddle craft boat ramp, to install new and stronger concrete slabs for caravans and to construct mixed electrical and solar lighting and signage throughout the park; and $100,000 to Grady's Riverside Retreat, which will use this funding to renovate a playground, including purchasing a new giant chessboard, a jumping pillow, a putt-putt golf course and a new basketball ring. They will also be improving the kitchen facilities and adding four additional powered sites.

The Caravan Parks Grant Program is already having huge positive impacts in our communities. This is an investment in the future, strengthening our regional economies and ensuring the great Aussie road trip remains an enduring tradition. The Caravan Parks Grant Program is just one part of our $48 million package of support for the tourism and travel sector as it recovers from the pandemic. These grants are already helping to attract and upskill workers, provide quality tourism products and deliver infrastructure upgrades. I'm committed to supporting small business and the tourism sector, and we look forward to hearing about, and seeing, the lasting benefit of these improvements to our local caravan parks for years to come.

I want to conclude by sending a big shout-out to all our caravan park operators and staff across the New South Wales South Coast. Despite many difficult years of bushfires, floods, storms, COVID and landslips, our caravan parks have been there supporting people and helping people to relax and enjoy our most beautiful environment, towns and villages and all that the New South Wales South Coast has to offer.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Labor government is failing the tourism industry: increasing visa costs, blocking airlines from adding more flights and cutting funding to Tourism Australia, all on the back of a pandemic which tore the heart out of tourism. At the very time when the industry needs this government's support more than ever, Labor is turning its back on them, and we are seeing the weaponising of Aboriginal cultural heritage laws by Labor governments around the country, blocking landowners from developing their own property for tourism. The prospects for the industry just grow bleaker.

As a case in point, I want to draw the attention of the Chamber to an egregious case currently taking place at Lake Tyrrell, in my electorate. Prior to the pandemic, Lake Tyrrell drew tourists from all over the world, which was a massive benefit to the local community. Landholders Murray and Maree Allan made an application to the Buloke Shire Council to develop some of their farmland into a small tourist park, to provide accommodation to visitors. This sounds like good news for the local tourism industry because it is. In 2017, as part of their planning process, the Allans were informed by the Labor Victorian state government that they did not have to prepare a cultural heritage management plan to investigate any implications around Aboriginal cultural heritage on the land. Consequently, they continued development and have so far invested over half a million dollars on the project—their retirement savings.

In the meantime, the council received $2.58 million in state funding and $2.9 million in federal funding to build a viewing platform over the lake for the benefit of visiting tourists, which was opened in 2020. This platform is right next door to Murray and Maree's farming property. Around the same time, the local Aboriginal land council corporation expressed interest in the development of an ecotourism precinct to serve tourists in the area. So far so good: more infrastructure and amenities to accommodate tourists, to the benefit of everyone. But, when the Aboriginal land council's trail ran cold on the prospects of their own project, their focus fixed on the Allans. Even though the Allans had been scrupulous in following the proper processes, in June 2021 they were suddenly and unexpectedly issued with a stop work order from the state Department of Premier and Cabinet—the same department who had given them authority to proceed without a cultural heritage management plan in 2017.

For reasons known only to five self-professed elders, they decided to object to the Allans' tourist park development on cultural heritage grounds, four years after it was announced. There has been no archaeological evidence of tangible Aboriginal items found at the site. In July 2022, Tanya Plibersek, the federal Minister for the Environment and Water, received an application from these same elders to protect Lake Tyrrell, under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, using newly published cultural heritage maps that had suddenly expanded to annex the Allans' tourist project on their land. Meanwhile, the Allans are left in limbo with more than half a million dollars sunk into the project, with roads, power and water supply already installed but every prospect that the federal minister will cancel it on the most tenuous cultural heritage claims you can imagine. No public information has been made available to the general community, and opponents of the application have until just 15 September to make submissions against it.

Far be it from me to say so, but, from the outside, this application looks arbitrary, wilful and even cynical. I'm in the corner of my farming constituents on this issue and will fight the opportunistic seizure of private property rights through the double-dip Aboriginal heritage state and federal system. As we approach the Voice referendum, which, if successful, is bound to lead to calls for treaties and reparations under Labor, this case is a forewarning to the tourism industry and private landowners of what to look forward to. I urge the minister to fairly and reasonably consider this case.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I speak to the substance of the motion, I want to address the issue for the member for Mallee. There is a time and a place to raise the important issues she raised. I don't see how this motion before the House about caravan parks and caravan park grants fits in any way. Out of respect for the member for Mallee, we didn't object to her continuing, but that contribution had nothing to do with the issue before the House, and that needs to be brought to the attention of the House.

I thank the member for Gilmore for bringing forward this motion. Both the member for Gilmore and I represent regional electorates with many wonderful caravan parks dotted through them. Caravan parks have long been a holiday destination for many families, and I'm sure many of us in this place can recall great memories of spending time in local caravan parks as kids. We'd make great friends, as temporary as they were, with the other holidaying kids. We'd collect shells at the beach and do all sorts of things—barbecues and campfires. I'm sure we've all had adventures to share with school friends upon our return home.

The Albanese government recognises and understands the importance of caravan parks, not just for our fond memories but for local tourism and regional economies and for our culture as a nation. We're generally an outdoorsy sort of place, and caravans are a great way to get around the country. In fact, one of the very few positives—if there were any positives out of the COVID-19 pandemic—was that it forced us all to stay closer to home. I know those in mainland states were perhaps very close to home and not able to get out of their houses. In Tasmania, we were lucky enough to travel through most of our state. But we got to holiday at home, explore our state and get out and about in our own backyard. It was at this time that Australians were reminded of the value of caravan parks. It was a positive for the regional caravan parks and economies that had been hit hard by COVID. They didn't have the interstate and international tourists coming in; they relied much more heavily on locals and locals delivered. We all got out and together we boosted our economy and supported hardworking local businesses.

Tourism Research Australia has found that, across our country, 95 per cent of tourism operators are small businesses with fewer than 20 employees, and that's even more true in the regions where the operations of small businesses are often the lifeblood of the communities they are in. It was because of this that Labor committed to providing $10 million to support new and improved caravan park facilities across Australia because we want to see visitors continue to travel to our regions and support those regional economies, and we want to see the culture of caravanning continue and thrive.

In government, we are delivering on the commitment we made. This measure will help park operators continue to provide important, quality accommodation options for families and budget-conscious travellers. The funds will help operators in regional areas in particular and will help encourage more people to holiday in the regions, boosting local economies and ensuring we can continue to explore our own backyards. Grants from $10,000 to $100,000 are being delivered now to 111 projects right around Australia, including in Tasmania. The grants ensure new facilities and upgraded infrastructure for park operators and long-lasting memories for those who use these sites. The better the facilities, the more attractive they are to tourists and the more local economies will benefit from the influx.

There are scores of caravan parks dotted throughout my electorate, which, as I like to say, takes in half the land mass of Tasmania—the better half of Tasmania; Deputy Speaker Wilke, you may disagree—and it includes some of the most iconic and beautiful landscapes and coastlines in the nation. I did a quick count in my head and stopped at 33. I'm sure there are more that I've forgotten. They range from deluxe glamping-style parks, like the one at Scamander, to budget-friendly parks down on the Tasman Peninsula. When travelling through my electorate overnight, I will sometimes stay at Tasman Holiday Park in St Helens or the Discovery Parks site in Hadspen. But there are many more that I've missed. The Hagley RV Farm Stay run by Stephen and Annette Camino is a well-loved tourist spot for grey nomads and tourists travelling through the Meander Valley. People love to stay at the farm site, enjoying the fresh air and the wide open space. The Triabunna Cabin and Caravan Park does a great job down on the east coast, particularly for people visiting Maria Island. I must give a shout-out to the White Beach Tourist Park and the NRMA Port Arthur Holiday Park, which are favourites for people looking for a budget experience or a family experience on the Tasman Peninsula.

I'd like to thank all the caravan park operators for the great work they do.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.