Mrs BRAHAM - 2001-02-28
As you are aware, the petition I tabled today is not effective. The gay and lesbian festival will go ahead. However, could you please advise the people of Alice Springs why your department, the Northern Territory Tourist Commission, went ahead and planned this festival without any consultation with CATIA, the Central Australian Tourist Industry Association, the peak body for tourism, which is delivering a different message to the world, or without consultation with the Alice Springs Town Council? How much is your department contributing to this festival; how will government manage the social controversy and debate it has created; and will you be supporting the continuation of this festival next year?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the answer to the question is very simple and short. I will address first the question about why the department supported this project and the reason it happened. Well, they did not. The simple fact is this project was initiated by the Alice Springs Town Council and the Alice Springs tourism industry.
Mrs Braham: They were not consulted, minister.
Mr REED: Wait for the answer. You may believe they were not consulted; however, because of the heat that has been generated over this issue, they may all be running in different directions. I can tell you precisely what the circumstances are.
The festival was initiated by a local company. The festival was supported by a number of tourism operators, including hotels, and the festival was sponsored by the Alice Springs Town Council. Those folk collectively came to a position where they sought sponsorship under the Small Events Program from the Northern Territory Tourist Commission.
Put yourself into the position of the Northern Territory Tourist Commission. They were asked to provide some funding, and they ended up providing $2000 towards this because local industry initiated it. They were the ones who facilitated it and, in fact, the Alice Springs Town Council was the sponsor of it. If the Tourist Commission or government had said ‘no’, we would have been damned because it would have been the Berrimah Line operating; we would have been saying ‘no’ to an activity in Alice Springs. If we had said ‘yes’, as we have, we would still be damned because we are providing assistance.
The local member might want to talk to the Alice Springs Town Council. They sponsored it. They are the sponsors of a particular activity in this week-long festival at the Alice Springs race course. As to the Alice Springs tourism industry, well, you had better go and tell them that this is not what you or other folk in Alice Springs want.
This is a home-grown Alice Springs initiative that local industry and the Alice Springs Town Council decided would be a good thing to sponsor and put in place. They sought some sponsorship from the Northern Territory Tourist Commission. They received $2000 to do events right across the Northern Territory. The Tourist Commission is not geographic in terms of what it assists and, because this was strongly supported by the local tourism industry and the Alice Springs Towns Council, the commission considered it was worthy of support. They provided support - as they do for any other community across the Northern Territory - to a tourism activity that was supported and initiated locally.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the answer to the question is very simple and short. I will address first the question about why the department supported this project and the reason it happened. Well, they did not. The simple fact is this project was initiated by the Alice Springs Town Council and the Alice Springs tourism industry.
Mrs Braham: They were not consulted, minister.
Mr REED: Wait for the answer. You may believe they were not consulted; however, because of the heat that has been generated over this issue, they may all be running in different directions. I can tell you precisely what the circumstances are.
The festival was initiated by a local company. The festival was supported by a number of tourism operators, including hotels, and the festival was sponsored by the Alice Springs Town Council. Those folk collectively came to a position where they sought sponsorship under the Small Events Program from the Northern Territory Tourist Commission.
Put yourself into the position of the Northern Territory Tourist Commission. They were asked to provide some funding, and they ended up providing $2000 towards this because local industry initiated it. They were the ones who facilitated it and, in fact, the Alice Springs Town Council was the sponsor of it. If the Tourist Commission or government had said ‘no’, we would have been damned because it would have been the Berrimah Line operating; we would have been saying ‘no’ to an activity in Alice Springs. If we had said ‘yes’, as we have, we would still be damned because we are providing assistance.
The local member might want to talk to the Alice Springs Town Council. They sponsored it. They are the sponsors of a particular activity in this week-long festival at the Alice Springs race course. As to the Alice Springs tourism industry, well, you had better go and tell them that this is not what you or other folk in Alice Springs want.
This is a home-grown Alice Springs initiative that local industry and the Alice Springs Town Council decided would be a good thing to sponsor and put in place. They sought some sponsorship from the Northern Territory Tourist Commission. They received $2000 to do events right across the Northern Territory. The Tourist Commission is not geographic in terms of what it assists and, because this was strongly supported by the local tourism industry and the Alice Springs Towns Council, the commission considered it was worthy of support. They provided support - as they do for any other community across the Northern Territory - to a tourism activity that was supported and initiated locally.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016