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- 4 December 2003
Country Tourism and Rail Travel
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Mr IAN ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [11.30 a.m.]: I move:
That this House:
(1) notes the dramatic and detrimental effect that adverse publicity about rail safety in New South Wales has had on confidence in touring by rail.
(2) asked the Minister for Tourism to seek a minimum of $1 million from the Minister for Transport Services to fund a campaign to restore confidence in rail travel for country tourism.
Debate on this motion has been a long time coming. On a couple of occasions it has been adjourned at the request of the Minister. I am pleased to be able to speak to it before Christmas. It goes without saying that tourism is one of the great industries of New South Wales and Australia. It is one of the great generators of the economy and has unlimited potential to promote Australia overseas. It is often forgotten that tourists with experience in any part of Australia are potential walking promotional agents in their home countries. Spreading the good reputation of Australia may well lead to improved commercial results and improved international relationships. Tourists talk about food, clean accommodation, safe travel, friends and experiences.
Over the years we have been fortunate in protecting our excellent reputation for international-standard clean and green food. Our food stands unchallenged throughout the world as the cleanest, the best prepared and the safest. The other industry in which we excel is wine. Casella wines, or Yellowtail from Griffith, account for more than 30 per cent of the total imported wine sales into North America. That is an unbelievable achievement in only seven years. Casella, like many other Australia companies, has managed to create a product that is attractive, competitive in a large market, and of undoubted quality.
Tourists come to Australia for an experience. According to the Labor Party's tourism development—"Welcoming the World"—tourism is a $23 billion business in New South Wales alone. The plan, which is eight or nine months old, claims that the tourist industry supports 306,000 jobs. Some 10 per cent of all people employed in the State are employed in the tourist industry. I understand that Government expenditure on tourism has increased from $36.6 million in 1995 to $54.1 million, a 48 per cent increase. The Carr Labor Government developed Australia's first tourism master plan, which consists of a three-year, whole-of-government plan with industry. New South Wales' share of international visitors has increased from 58 per cent in 1998 to 60 per cent in June of last year. Our nearest competitor is Queensland, with 44 per cent of international visitors.
Bearing in mind that only 2 per cent of tourists visit country areas, and acknowledging that tourism is a $23 billion industry in New South Wales, that tourist numbers in this State have increased considerably, that more than 70 per cent of tourists come into Australia via Sydney, and that New South Wales' share of international tourists has grown from 58 per cent in 1998 to 60 per cent in June 2002, I started to wonder why more tourists do not visit country areas. Tourists are all about travelling. How did they travel from A to B, be it from their home to our shores or when they get here? They have a number of options: they can hitchhike, walk, ride a bike, take an aeroplane, get on a bus, hire a car or get on a ferry. But historically throughout the world some of the most exciting tourism programs have been based around rail transport, for example the Orient Express.
In recent years, most honourable members would have seen advertisements, particularly in the Sunday papers, for extraordinarily wonderful train trips through Africa, from St Petersburg across to Moscow and from the southern States of North America to the Canadian border. Tourists can travel by train from Switzerland down into Italy. The famous zigzag trains go up into the Scandinavian countries. Those marvellous trips are popular with tourists, and their popularity is growing. Our glamour train in northern Queensland, which has been quite successful, is privately funded. Recently, the long-term plan for the completion of the Alice Springs to Darwin link has come to fruition. Although that link was initially predicated on freight, it certainly will be a major tourist attraction.
I looked through "Welcoming the World" from the front page to the back page and I could not see the word "train" mentioned at all. There is no mention of train transport. Tourists can walk, ride a bike, hire a car, get on a bus, but trains do not count in New South Wales. We know that because Professor Tom Parry, who recently released a report on train travel in New South Wales, which he presented to the Government and which has now become a public document, recommended taking away the remaining vestiges of train services and replacing them with buses. He recognised that the train system is so run down, and the carriages, the service on trains and the ability to access trains are so archaic that passenger numbers are falling dramatically.
How would backpackers who come here from Scandinavia and want to stay in Sydney for three or four days and then go to Cootamundra and Young, down to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area to go fruit picking and perhaps cut asparagus get there? Anywhere else in the world they would go to the railway station, look at the timetable, get on a nice, clean, comfortable train and go. Try doing that in New South Wales! If you go to the tourist office train travel will not be mentioned. "Welcoming the World", Labor's plan to develop tourism, ignores trains altogether. If one were to go to Central Railway this afternoon it would not be difficult to get there, but it would be difficult to find out where the hell the trains go. Then you would have to find a reliable train on which the toilets are not overflowing, as they have done a number of times in recent weeks on the southern line.
We are neglecting the opportunity for tourists to travel by train. I suspect that the Government recognises this and is complicit in it. If it were not, its policy document that talks about inland marketing would promote the variety and quality of the tourism experience in country New South Wales—everything from bush walking to fine dining and hot air ballooning to art galleries. Tourists could travel by hot air balloons. I can just see next year's fruit pickers travelling by hot air balloons! I note in passing that most of the hot air is on the Government benches.
According to "Welcoming the World", the Government plans to work with regional tourism organisations to develop innovative marketing and development activities; to build on and implement strategies for booming regional tourism sections such as Farmstay, bed and breakfast and caravan and camping tourism enhance the visitor information centre development program to ensure a consistent, high quality level of service for tourists across the State; and to implement the new tourist signposting policy which includes an updated manual for tourism stakeholders. Not one signpost in Sydney advises tourists that they can get a train to Gosford, Murwillumbah, Tamworth, Leeton, Griffith, Albury or Young. Train tourism in New South Wales is vacant. The document mentions hot air ballooning, but not once does it mention trains, because the Government and the Minister know—
Ms Sandra Nori: You are the only one who doesn't know! You are a dinosaur.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG: I travel by train. Twice in the past couple of weeks I have taken a train from Goulburn and Newcastle. I assure the Minister that travelling by train is one of the most different experiences one can possibly have in New South Wales. The Government also plans to assist in initiatives to leverage tourism opportunities from regional industries such as aquaculture and agribusiness, for example, market products and tours showcasing the fishing and dairy industry on the South Coast. The South Coast? What incentive is there for tourists to go by train to the South Coast? Trains do not go beyond Gerringong. The South Coast offers marvellous tourism facilities, Bega cheese is superb, the countryside is pretty and unspoilt, but we cannot get there by train.
There is nothing in the document about encouraging people to try to do so. The document talks about increasing the depth and breadth of information available on Chinese language Tourism New South Wales web sites. Imagine 300 Chinese arriving here this afternoon and asking, "How are we going to get to central New South Wales?" and being told "Go by train"! The Minister knows as well as I know that that will not happen. We have a problem, because there is no train tourism, and she does not acknowledge that within her document. [Time expired.]
Ms SANDRA NORI (Port Jackson—Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Women) [11.40 p.m.]: I thank the shadow Minister for his contribution. It is good to know that he is taking an interest in tourism—at least to the extent of moving this motion. However, I propose to move an amendment. I move:
That the motion be amended by leaving out all words after "That" with a view to inserting instead "this House congratulates the efforts of Tourism New South Wales and State Rail in seeing over 49,000 international visitors using long-distance trains for holiday and leisure purposes to the year ending June 2003."
The reason I called my friend the shadow Minister a dinosaur—albeit a nice one—is because he does not realise that the rail site and rail information for tourists is linked on the web site, particularly through the backpackers' site. The shadow Minister would not know that, and I do not blame him. I know how old he is, so he is forgiven. I understood what he was trying to say. Unfortunately, his well-intentioned contribution was fundamentally flawed. I know he is only new at the job, and he certainly would not have received any insight from his predecessor. His contribution was flawed because 86 per cent of travel in this State has traditionally been by car. As far as I can tell from research, that will continue to be so. That is the niche market for New South Wales: it is the touring-by-car State. New South Wales led all the marketing on this concept through the Drive New South Wales and Feel Free campaigns.
Tourism New South Wales has evolved a range of campaigns and is into the second or third iteration of them—and they are growing. Other States, particularly Victoria, are finally catching on. The market can be led to some extent in relation to tourism marketing, developing product and running co-operative campaigns with the industry. However, it would be a game tourism marketing organisation that tried to create a new market from scratch, going against the natural trend. The great market advantage of tourism in New South Wales is that the State is regarded as a touring-by-car State. In many circumstances what tourists want to do in this State are more easily done by car. The shadow Minister spoke about going to the South Coast. The Government runs a hugely successful program of delivering tourists to the South Coast—not only out of Sydney but also out of Queensland and Victoria. It is even better to have Victorian dollars rather than Sydney dollars go to the South Coast. Most of the nooks and crannies along the New South Wales coastline and mountain ranges that people like to visit are more readily visited by car. It would be difficult to tour New South Wales by train to the same extent as one can by car.
Mr Ian Armstrong: Agreed.
Ms SANDRA NORI: I know the shadow Minister mentioned that. We are going with the market advantage, but we are not ignoring rail links. We have a co-operative project with CountryLink, particularly for backpackers. The project is the "Backtracker New South Wales Guide to Travelling in Regional New South Wales on the CountryLink Rail/Coach Network". That project supports the use of the backpacker rail pass to encourage backpackers to explore suggested regionalised itineraries using the CountryLink network. The shadow Minister talked about the Parry report. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal [IPART] report identified two rail links that it considered should be reviewed. IPART does not make the decisions. It undertakes the reviews; governments make the decisions. Those identified rail links were the Tamworth to Armidale and the Casino to Murwillumbah lines.
I am speaking as Minister for Tourism. Each day 400 people get on or off trains between Casino and Murwillumbah. Of those, 219 are either connecting to or from coaches into or out of Queensland. Each day fewer than 10 people travel locally in those areas. The Tamworth-to-Armidale line costs about $6.4 million every year—that is $17,000 a day—for one train carrying an average of 68 people in each direction. On average, only eight people per train pay full adult fares on that line. Even if we assume that those eight people are tourists, that still means that not many tourists travel to those areas. The shadow Minister said that we are not creating a European-style train experience for visitors. Again, that reflects his lack of knowledge and detail. An enormous number of significant train journeys can be taken within the State.
Mr Ian Armstrong: Name them!
Ms SANDRA NORI: How long do we have?
Mr Ian Armstrong: Another four minutes and 17 seconds.
Ms SANDRA NORI: Very well. There is the Cockatoo Run, which costs $85.
Mr Ian Armstrong: Where does the Cockatoo Run go?
Ms SANDRA NORI: Where do you think it goes? I know where it goes.
Mr Ian Armstrong: You are telling the story.
Ms SANDRA NORI: That is right. It goes to the South Coast. Tourists can go to Opera in the Vineyards, the Steamfest at Maitland, the Katoomba Scenic Railway and much more. I will give the shadow Minister this list so he can study it in great detail. It is a little unfair to compare New South Wales to Europe; it is an entirely different experience. As the honourable member knows, villages and townships in Europe are usually only between five and 20 kilometres apart. New South Wales has a different—and I believe better—experience to offer. We do not need to compare our State to Europe. We are well and truly beyond that.
I want to repeat something I have said a number of times when answering questions in question time—and it is a lot more difficult to be heard then. I can only rely on empirical data to judge whether our campaigns are working. On any account the period after the end of 2002 would have been one of the worst years for the tourism industry, because it carried over the impact of September 11 the year before, the war in Afghanistan, the coming war in Iraq, the drought, and the Bali bombing. In that year the tourism figures for New South Wales went up at the expense of both Victoria and, to a lesser extent, Queensland.
We have promoted a number of campaigns in the marketplace, not only the new and latest iteration of the Drive New South Wales campaign. We have promoted, for example, post-bushfire campaigns. We do not need bushfires to run campaigns but those campaigns resulted in people visiting different parts of New South Wales that were ravaged by the bushfires. The Farmstay, Farmhand and Telstra campaigns on television resulted in people going into the bush, particularly to the Far West of New South Wales. I rather suspect that the campaign did more than encourage people to participate in the Farmstay program. By including in our campaigning the words "regional New South Wales" and "Go and help the farmers", we got people into the bush. They might not have chosen to participate in the Farmstay program, but at least visited those areas. A critical mass of campaigning in Sydney and in interstate marketplaces resulted in much greater visitations to those areas.
New South Wales is the only State that can project and envisage growth in domestic tourism over the next few years. There is always room for improvement. We cannot stand still when it comes to marketing a product, whether it is Coca-Cola or New South Wales. We are constantly looking for the next campaign iteration, the next niche market, the next opportunity and the next way of saying the same thing differently so that our customers return. There is always room for that kind of improvement and evolution. New South Wales is well and truly on the right track. At an appropriate time I will inform the House and, indeed, the shadow Minister about some exciting plans to be implemented in the next few months, leveraging off the Rugby World Cup internationally, that will market this State and this city. I thank the shadow Minister for his contribution and commend him for his interest in this matter, even though most of what he said was wrong.
Mr Ian Armstrong: You are a greenie.
Ms SANDRA NORI: The shadow Minister insulted me by calling me a greenie. That is an insult. He should be asked to withdraw that remark.
Mr DEPUTY-SPEAKER: I am sure that the honourable member for Lachlan will comply.
Mr Armstrong: I certainly withdraw that remark but I make the point that the colour that the Minister is wearing reflects her persona. It is most attractive.
Mr DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! A withdrawal will be sufficient.
Mr STEVE CANSDELL (Clarence) [11.50 a.m.]: I commend the motion moved by the honourable member for Lachlan and welcome this opportunity to talk about rail and tourism. The Indian Pacific, which runs across the Nullarbor, is a well-promoted, well-known and well-supported service. Everyone who visits north Queensland takes the scenic rainforest trip from Cairns to Kuranda. The train travels through scenic areas that contain rainforests, mountains, waterfalls and wildlife. Once it reaches Kuranda people visit the markets, which is an experience on its own. People do not know about the Cockatoo Run, the Steamfest at Maitland or the scenic rail trips that are available in New South Wales, as they are not promoted.
Three years ago my wife and I travelled on the train between Grafton and Sydney, something that we had not done for about eight or nine years. It was fantastic trip; it was nice and relaxing. We could see everything during the day, and we could get up and go for a walk if we needed to do so. I admit that the train needed some upgrading but, in general, the feeling of travelling by rail was wonderful. However, that trip was not promoted in the newspapers and no brochures were available to inform anyone of the availability of that service. People are not encouraged to tour this State. Earlier the Minister said that we should encourage people to tour New South Wales by car. People are not encouraged at the moment to tour New South Wales either by rail or by car. Most visitors to New South Wales fly into Sydney.
We could promote train trips from Sydney to Grafton. People could then hire a car and drive from Grafton to Yamba or Iluka where there is great surf and beautiful weather conditions. They could travel from there up to Nymboida for white-water rafting and from there up to Eungai. They could then take the car back to Grafton, jump on the train and travel up to Murwillumbah. From there they could catch a bus to Armidale and then travel by train from Armidale to Tamworth, if one is still available. The Glenreagh historic rail project, which is located just outside Grafton, is nearing completion. That will be another great tourist attraction. If the Government were serious about promoting rail it would combine the Cockatoo Run, the Steamfest at Maitland and the Glenreagh historic rail project as a scenic drive-rail or rail-drive route.
New South Wales is lagging behind other States in promoting its tourist areas. The motion moved by the honourable member for Lachlan highlights the fact that we have a dilapidated rail service that needs upgrading and promoting to make it attractive to tourists. Many of the tourists who come to Australia travel by rail or by bus. They jump on the train and go to Western Australia or to Queensland. They use the services in Queensland because those services are promoted through the media. The Queensland Government supports its rail services and upgrades them to make them attractive and welcoming.
The New South Wales Government underpromotes and underservices rail in this State. We need to link those services to tourism so that we do not miss out on tourism opportunities. I said earlier that more should be done to promote travel, but we have already had a great many deaths this year on the Pacific Highway. If we encourage more people to use bus services by cancelling rail services it will do nothing for tourism. If anything, it will scare tourists away from New South Wales. We must upgrade our train services and promote the option of travelling by train. That will encourage more tourists to New South Wales. I commend the motion.
Mr RICHARD TORBAY (Northern Tablelands) [11.55 a.m.]: I support the motion moved by the honourable member for Lachlan, which highlights the fact that tourist attractions in New South Wales could be better promoted. I join the Minister in congratulating Tourism New South Wales on the work it has done in rural and regional New South Wales. However, much more can be done in that area. The motion of the honourable member for Lachlan refers in particular to rail services. I thank the honourable member for his earlier comments relating to the Tamworth to Armidale rail link, an issue that was referred to also by the Minister for Tourism.
In regional and rural areas such as the Northern Tablelands a number of hard-working community groups regard rail services as an important part of tourism promotion. The Northern Tablelands contains magnificent gorge country and many tourism opportunities that have been detailed in business plans by organisations such as the Friends of the Northern Railway Inc. and New England Railway Inc. They have said that those wonderful tourism opportunities can assist in maintaining the viability of country rail services, support tourism, promote country New South Wales and promote rural and regional Australia. The honourable member for Lachlan is right on the mark in moving this motion today.
The Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation touched upon the Parry report, as did the honourable member for Lachlan. Rural communities and committees hotly dispute the figures being promoted regarding rail patronage. The solutions committee established by the Minister for Transport Services, of which I am fortunate to be a member, is working constructively through these issues. I acknowledge that the Minister had the courage and the courtesy to attend the recent protest rally at the railway station in Armidale and address the more than 3,000 people present. There has been a great deal of commentary and disagreement about this issue, but we are working constructively towards a resolution. The message from the community is clear: Hands off our rail services. As the honourable member for Lachlan said, the Government should consider investing further in our regions and providing tourism opportunities and other flow-on benefits to our communities. In his famous speech at Tenterfield Sir Henry Parkes spoke about rail services.
Mr Peter Draper: Your predecessor.
Mr RICHARD TORBAY: The honourable member for Tamworth is right: Sir Henry Parkes was the member for Tenterfield.
Mr Ian Armstrong: There's a certain resemblance.
Mr RICHARD TORBAY: I thank the honourable member for Lachlan; I feel very distinguished. It is important to acknowledge that in the late 1800s, before Federation, Henry Parkes commented on the need for a national rail plan. We did well establishing the Commonwealth but we are still struggling to realise his vision of a united rail service that would open the entire country. An efficient countrywide rail service is still talked about but it has never been established. There are ongoing efforts in this regard and I hope that we will seize every opportunity to extend rail services, provide more opportunities for tourism and leverage other benefits from those services. We must view such efforts as an investment in our future. We must not cancel country rail services. As the representative of the Northern Tablelands, I remember how we lost our local rail services once before—and Tenterfield and Glen Innes never got them back.
Mr Steve Whan: Who did that?
Mr RICHARD TORBAY: I accept the challenge from the honourable member for Monaro: It was the Greiner Government. However, the CountryLink rail service to Armidale is now under threat from the Carr Government as a result of the Parry report. I am hoping for a constructive outcome to this debate that will involve providing more opportunities for country rail in the future and no service cuts.
Mr ADRIAN PICCOLI (Murrumbidgee) [12.00 p.m.]: It has been said many times in this place that the future success of western New South Wales depends on several industries, one of which is certainly tourism. The tyranny of distance has always been a problem in Australia—I am sure that well before European settlement of this country our indigenous peoples had similar difficulties. We have not yet fully resolved that problem in 2003. That is why rail services are so important to tourism in New South Wales. Several rail services, particularly the Tamworth to Armidale rail link, are under threat as a result of the Parry report. The Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation cited some figures regarding rail patronage and said that last year only eight full fare paying passengers used the service each day. Those statistics are questionable. Even if they are correct, they should pose a question for the Minister. Rather than using those disputed figures to justify closing the line, the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, the Minister for Transport Services, and the Premier should ask why those services are not patronised more.
That question goes to the heart of the motion of the honourable member for Lachlan. If rail transport were promoted more effectively, particularly to international tourists who are accustomed to rail travel in North America and Europe, patronage of our country rail services would increase. The Parry report provides an opportunity for the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation to use her department's budget to increase patronage not just on the Sydney to Tamworth to Armidale rail link but across the network. The Minister referred to the increase in domestic tourism following the September 11 attacks and other terrorist events around the world, and the collapse of Ansett. International uncertainty is prompting Australians to see more of Australia. This State has a great opportunity to attract tourists, particularly Victorians who travel through New South Wales to Queensland. There is a rail link between Melbourne and Sydney and links to other destinations in New South Wales. It is time to take advantage of the increase in domestic tourism and the movement of Victorians, particularly during the winter months, and put them on trains. When we persuade tourists to travel by rail to Albury, Wagga Wagga and Sydney we will increase the level of patronage, reduce the need for the New South Wales Government to subsidise rail services—the great bane of any government—and secure a more certain future for rail transport in country New South Wales.
We must do much more to promote tourism in western New South Wales. I am afraid that NSW Tourism is about promoting tourism just in Sydney and in the Hunter Valley. The rest of New South Wales generally receives only lip service. My electorate borders Victoria—some of my colleagues whose electorates border Queensland may have had a similar experience—and I see how the Victorians promote country Victoria. There are beautiful, bright, colourful signs saying, "Love every piece of Victoria". We do not have anything like that sort of strategy in New South Wales. When people cross the Murray River they see ugly brown signs pointing them to various tourist attractions. I have raised this issue with NSW Tourism, but it will not change the signs. Much more must be done to promote tourism in New South Wales, particularly rail tourism.
Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro) [12.05 p.m.]: I support the amendment moved by the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation to the motion of the honourable member for Lachlan. Tourism is very important in the region that I represent in this place, as is the local rail service. I have the pleasure of representing an electorate that includes most of the New South Wales alpine areas, and NSW Tourism works very well with local tourism organisations to promote the south-east. Following the bushfires earlier this year, NSW Tourism launched a promotional campaign to enhance winter tourism. Coupled with good snowfalls, it produced one of the most successful tourist seasons in recent years.
The campaign included the promotion of car travel in the Snowy Mountains region and the recent very successful motorcycle promotion, which encouraged people to tour the mountain roads by motorcycle and visit the area's terrific tourism destinations. In that area currently, tourism is going very well, but of course we need to keep working with Tourism New South Wales and the local communities to make that continue. I agree that CountryLink has a great role to play in tourism in the area. People used to be able to travel by rail to Cooma and access the mountains, but the rail line ceased under the Greiner Government in 1989.
I look forward to the Minister taking up Country Labor's seven-point plan to save country rail services. The plan was presented to the Minister yesterday. If the plan is implemented, that will result in the continuation of train services. Two weeks ago in this House I expressed my very strong support—indeed, my determination—to ensure that CountryLink rail services continue to Queanbeyan and Canberra. As a representative of the area, I will not back down on that issue. I will continue to press the case strongly because very cogent reasons exist for the retention of country rail services in my electorate and the surrounding areas, as I have been saying for some months. It is important to support the part of Country Labor's seven-point plan that includes the reform of the ticketing system and better promotion of the rail system. The CountryLink services to Queanbeyan and Canberra can be used to promote trips to events such as Floriade.
There are a number of extremely important events and festivals that that can be linked by rail in my electorate and surrounding areas. CountryLink services could be better promoted to attract people to the region. Tourism promotion is enormously important. Emblazoned on my mind is the contribution that The Nationals tried to make to the promotion of tourism in the region earlier this year. The current Leader of The Nationals issued a press release urging people not to visit the Snowy Mountains. He attacked the National Parks and Wildlife Service for promoting the region for visitation. It was a highly embarrassing moment for The Nationals, but it shows how out of touch they are with the region.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service was promoting the Kosciuszko National Park after the bushfires and suggesting to people that there was a great deal to see, as there is, and that they had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe the recovery of the park after the fires. The Nationals saw a political opportunity and attacked the idea. We have seen a great deal of hypocrisy from The Nationals about promoting regional tourism. Areas surrounding the electorate I represent have some wonderful natural assets which allow people to see some of the best that country New South Wales has to offer. The area has been promoted worldwide by Tourism New South Wales, which has done a terrific job in that area. I look forward to working with groups such as Tourism Snowy Mountains, Capital Region Tourism and other local groups to ensure that the region continues to derive benefits from tourism.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG (Lachlan) [12.12 p.m.], in reply: I will have to speak a little louder than usual to drown out the local government protesters who are marching against the Government in Macquarie Street. I hope honourable members will understand that I am speaking rather loudly to ensure that the message of country train travel gets through to the Carr Labor Government. The honourable member who preceded me in this debate, the honourable member for Monaro, mentioned some type of Country Labor plan for State Rail that was presented to the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Women yesterday.
He must be having a hell of a problem because the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Women, who is responsible for opposing this motion today, did not even mention it. It appears that there is not much liaising between so-called Country Labor and the Labor Party—or has the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Women rejected the plan already, out of hand? The Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Women referred to the touring by car campaign and extolled its virtues and successes. Why did she not talk about a campaign on touring by rail?
Mr Tony Stewart: She did.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG: She did mention that, but she could not identify one campaign that the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, under her direction, has undertaken to promote touring by rail in New South Wales. The Minister endeavoured to talk about some of the specific rail ventures that may be undertaken in New South Wales and she referred to Katoomba. The Katoomba rail system is a closed rail system, just as is the Zig Zag Railway on the Newnes Plateau and the Lachlan Valley Railway at Cowra. The only problem with the Lachlan Valley Railway at Cowra is that the engine cannot be moved out of that zone because the track can take only up to 19 tonnes and the engine is heavier than that. State Rail has allowed the track to become so run down between Blayney and Harden that the train cannot be moved out of that zone. The railway has been condemned for safety reasons.
The Minister must recognise two important factors: the first is that we have an ageing population, and the second is that if every Australian spent only $10 dollars extra on one additional night at a tourism destination each year, domestic tourism expenditure would increase by $10.2 billion per year. Why can that not be promoted in New South Wales to see if we can generate another $4 billion or $5 billion in tourism activity in this State for our tourism operators? The amended motion refers to 49,000 international visitors using long distance trains for holiday and leisure purposes during the year ending June 2003. In the Minister's own propaganda, it has been stated that when the International Lions Conference is held in Sydney at the end of next year, there will be 25,000 Lions attending, yet we can attract only 49,000 international visitors in a full year to tour by rail. That is a disgrace. The Minister is citing mickey mouse numbers.
The Minister also referred to backpacking, which is the fastest-growing mode of travel throughout the world currently, and it will continue to be so. The Minister claimed that one of the reasons why there were so many problems with rail tourism is that that there are only 400 passengers per day between Casino and Murwillumbah. The honourable member for Tamworth referred to the Tamworth rail line, and the Minister claimed that only eight people per day use that line. Why does the Government not begin to address the problems by acknowledging the failure of the system? If only eight people per day are using a rail service, that means that the system is not attracting passengers—and that happens when a rail service is run down, antiquated, not attractive, not promoted and is darned difficult to get on because people cannot obtain information. I know of people who have sat on the Cootamundra railway platform in winter for three or four hours and there was no public address system and no communication about when the train was arriving.
Mr Peter Draper: If you try to book, they won't take your booking.
Mr IAN ARMSTRONG: They will not take bookings, and people have to buy their tickets two or three days ahead of the journey and take delivery of their tickets. The Minister also referred to reliance on empirical data only, but why does somebody not go and talk to the travellers? Why does not somebody go down to the big local backpackers hostel in Alexandria and ask travellers what they want? Why does not somebody go along to the local Probus club, the local chamber of commerce, the local regional tourism operators in Cowra, Young, Temora or west Whalan and ask them what they need to make rail travel once again attractive to tourists? The Minister also said that promoters cannot stand still when marketing a product, and I agree. She is right, but why is she frozen solid and not moving one centimetre to promote rail? Rail is the forgotten mode of transport in general in New South Wales and in particular for tourism. It has been ignored by this Government. The Government talks about its promotional projects, but it does not talk about rail. The Opposition rejects the amendment outright.
Question—That the amendment be agreed to—put.
The House divided.
Ayes, 46
Mr Amery
Ms Andrews
Mr Bartlett
Ms Beamer
Mr Black
Mr Brown
Ms Burney
Miss Burton
Mr Campbell
Mr Collier
Mr Corrigan
Mr Crittenden
Ms D'Amore
Mr Debus
Mr Greene
Ms Hay | Mr Hickey
Mr Hunter
Mr Iemma
Ms Judge
Ms Keneally
Mr Knowles
Mr Lynch
Mr McBride
Mr McLeay
Ms Meagher
Ms Megarrity
Mr Morris
Mr Newell
Ms Nori
Mr Orkopoulos
Mrs Paluzzano | Mr Pearce
Mrs Perry
Mr Price
Dr Refshauge
Ms Saliba
Mr Sartor
Mr Shearan
Mr Stewart
Mr Tripodi
Mr West
Mr Whan
Mr Yeadon
Tellers,
Mr Ashton
Mr Martin |
Noes, 30
Mr Aplin
Mr Armstrong
Mr Barr
Ms Berejiklian
Mr Cansdell
Mr Draper
Mrs Hancock
Mr Hazzard
Mrs Hopwood
Mr Humpherson
Mr Kerr | Mr McGrane
Mr Merton
Ms Moore
Mr Oakeshott
Mr O'Farrell
Mr Page
Mr Piccoli
Mr Pringle
Mr Richardson
Mr Roberts
Ms Seaton | Mrs Skinner
Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Tink
Mr Torbay
Mr J. H. Turner
Mr R. W. Turner
Tellers,
Mr George
Mr Maguire |
Pairs
| Ms Allan | Mr Brogden |
| Mr Gibson | Mr Constance |
| Mr Mills | Mr Fraser |
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Amendment agreed to.
Motion as amended agreed to.
Last modified 05/12/2007 16:32:27 : Update this page