Well thank you very much, Joe. Pat Farmer, Member for Macarthur, Bruce Baird, my other parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. This is an important day for the tourist industry in Australian because what we are putting down is properly described as a medium to long term strategy for tourism. It';s a White Paper plus, we had Medicare Plus earlier in the week and now we have a White Paper plus because it';s not just a White Paper, it';s also accompanied by a lot of the folding stuff as well because a White Paper without financial underpinning is nice, but the financial underpinning makes an enormous difference. And this is a plan involving a major new investment as well as a restructuring of key tourism bodies and one of the central aims of this strategy is to work very closely with people involved in the industry.
We want to build on the magnificent success, not only of the Olympic games of 2000, but self evidently the magnificent success of the Rugby World Cup which is coming to we all hope to a magnificent climax on Saturday night. And it';s also very much and this is symbolised by where we are launching it in regional Australia, just regional Australia given the urban sprawl of Sydney. But nonetheless regional Australia and indeed the birth place of Australia';s first great wealth generating industry, that';s the agriculture industry and there';s a nice symmetry in that because a successful nation is a nation that exploits sensibly all of its wealth generating industries and just as agriculture in the past and continues to generate enormous wealth for Australia. So tourism in the past and even more so in the future has and will generate wealth for our country.
The industry employs about 550,000 people, it generates $17 billion a year in export earnings and the vast majority of tourism businesses are small medium-sized businesses. And we therefore want to harness all of those businesses and we want to harness the great future potential of our industry and the people who work in it. And this why today I';m delighted to announce that we are going to invest an additional $235 million over five years to support the implementation of the key measures in the White Paper.
It includes additional funding for international marketing amounting to $120 million over five years and this is a centrepiece of the new policy and in part recognises that tourism businesses have endured the adverse impact of a series of unprecedented events in the sense that they have all come together in a relatively short period of time.
The terrorist attacks first of the 11th of September 2001, then on the 12th of October closer and sadly much closer to home in Bali. The SARS epidemic and, of course, domestically having international ramifications, the impact of the Ansett collapse. But it also recognises what a incredibly competitive environment is represented by the international tourism industry and if we want to have our share of that action we';ve go to go out there and grab it and we';ve got to be willing as a Government to provide financial support and other promotional support.
Another key measure involves an increase of $46 million in funding for domestic tourism marketing, including marketing under the See Australia flagship and this is combined with an increasing funding for the tourism development programme of $19 million over four years.
Domestic marketing and tourism development to support local projects are both central to fostering further growth and job opportunities in regional Australia. And we';ve also recognised the industry';s need for more extensive and quality research and statistics, and we';re going to allocate an extra $21.5 million for this purpose.
But importantly ladies and gentlemen, these funding measures are combined with a strategic structuring of tourism bodies and a policy which is aimed at improved competitiveness and growth. And under this restructure, a new central body to be called Tourism Australia will be formed by bringing together the Australian Tourist Commission, the Tourism Forecasting Council, the Bureau of Tourism Research and See Australia marketing. And in addition, a new unit with Tourism Australia to be called Tourism Events Australia, that will focus on promoting Australia as a high quality business and events destination.
Despite the challenges that the industry faces, it remains one that overwhelmingly is made up of very self-reliant men and women who are willing to work very hard and have a go, and risk the challenges, typically in the Australian way. And another aim of the restructuring is to further extend self-reliance in the industry so that the resources and the responses marshalled against future international shocks, can be better managed. A further important component of this new direction involves implementation. The Government looks forward to working closely with the industry on the implementation of this plan, and working together to make sure that everything that has been announced is delivered on time and as soon as possible, is very desirable.
Now in conclusion, I do want to thank a number of people, and first and foremost I want to thank my colleague Joe Hockey, whose indefatigable enthusiasm…[applause] your popularity [inaudible] Joe. Joe has done a really magnificent job in fighting for a very significant increase in funding for the tourist industry. You may read stories about how much money we';ve got. It';s all a bit of a myth. I mean that $7.5 billion has already been spent repaying debt. It';s not sitting in the bank. And Joe here has gone out and has fought very, very hard indeed to get extra money for the tourist industry. So I do want to record my immense gratitude to the Minister for the work that he has undertaken.
I also want to thank the officials from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, and also those from the Tourist Commission who have worked very hard on this White Paper process. And many Government Members and Senators, and not least of course Bruce Baird who has great experience and has had an enormous contribution over the years to the tourist industry, particularly but not only in New South Wales. This is a great time to launch a new policy extolling and putting on display virtues of the Australian tourist industry.
In the World Cup, all the best qualities of Australia have been bared for the world to see – our sporting prowess, our tenacious competitiveness, our openness and our friendliness as a people, the great natural beauty of our country, and the fact that we can organise major events in a superbly efficient way. We were very proud of the organisation of the Olympic Games, and although the Rugby World Cup is on a slightly smaller scale, it is nonetheless the third largest international sporting event in the year in the world. And we have been able to organise it with spectacular efficiency, and that demonstrates that what we have achieved in the past is only a harbinger of what we can achieve in the future.
The Government is right behind the industry. We';re not only producing a White Paper, but we';re also putting money where the White Paper is, and together we can reap the enormous benefits that I know tourism in the future can bring to our nation.
Thank you.
[ends]