Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand this evening to put on the public record a great success story that involves an ecotourism adventure business in my electorate of Franklin. For those of you who do not know, the seat of Franklin boasts a number of Tasmania’s popular tourism destinations. One such location is Bruny Island. Bruny Island has much to offer with regard to the environment. It also has a prominent place in Tasmania’s history.

There is a Bruny Island based tourism company that is leading the way in ecoadventure cruises. The owner-operators, Robert Pennicott and Michaye Boulter, have seen the value in linking tourists with Bruny Island’s wild and beautiful environment. Their vision has afforded them recognition on both a state and a national level. This year alone Bruny Island Charters and Tasman Island Cruises have won an impressive five awards. These awards have recognised their concern for the environment, their financial contribution to conservation, the quality of their ecotourism cruises and their use of responsible business practices. The Bruny Island Charters ecoadventure cruise takes its tourists on a 50-kilometre trip along the spectacular coastline of South Bruny, from Adventure Bay to a place they call the Friars. Bruny Island has an abundance of birdlife and coastal wildlife and it boasts some of Australia’s highest sea cliffs. It is pleasing to see a local tourism operator in the seat of Franklin achieving such great results. I congratulate Robert and Michaye on their recent achievements and for bringing both local and international tourists a little closer to the diverse, rich environment of Bruny Island. (Time expired)