Fran Bailey (McEwen, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Tourism Australia Amendment Bill 2007 amends the Tourism Australia Act 2004 by making changes to governance arrangements for the organisation. The changes introduced in this bill form part of the implementation of the government’s response to the Review of corporate governance of statutory authorities and office holders that was conducted by Mr John Uhrig.

Tourism Australia is the federal government statutory authority responsible for international and domestic tourism marketing as well as the delivery of research and forecasts for the sector. Tourism Australia was established on 1 July 2004, bringing together the collective skills and knowledge of four separate organisations: the Australian Tourist Commission; See Australia; the Bureau of Tourism Research and Tourism Forecasting Council.

Tourism Australia has emerged as one of the world’s leading national tourism organisations. It works to influence those outside Australia to visit the many regions of Australia, whether for personal, recreational, professional or business reasons. It works to persuade Australians to travel throughout their own country. It works to foster a sustainable Australian tourism industry. And it works to increase the economic benefits to Australia from tourism. These economic benefits include export income and jobs, especially in regional Australia.

The government has assessed Tourism Australia’s existing governance structure against the recommendations and principles of the Uhrig review and has identified that the board template is best suited to Tourism Australia’s role as the government’s tourism marketing agency. This bill amends the Tourism Australia Act 2004 by making minor improvements to the governance and accountability arrangements for Tourism Australia.

These amendments will bring the existing governance arrangements more closely in line with best practice under the board template as identified in Uhrig, and provide increased accountability to the parliament commensurate with the high levels of public funding for the organisation’s activities.

The government has confirmed that the existing structure of a statutory authority operating under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 with governance by a board is consistent with the Uhrig recommendations. This recognises the need for Tourism Australia to operate flexibly in a commercial environment.

These arrangements are strongly supported by Australia’s tourism industry. The minor improvements proposed in the bill seek to balance increased independence for the board, principally through removal of the government member, with improved accountability appropriate to an organisation that receives over 80 per cent of its income through appropriation and whose work involves considerable public scrutiny, both here and overseas.

On behalf of the government I would like to thank those who contributed to the assessment. The views and interests of Australia’s tourism industry will continue to inform the government’s tourism promotion activities.

Debate (on motion by Dr Emerson) adjourned.