Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is great to follow the member for Solomon, who was extolling the virtues of speeding up the rollout of the NBN in the Northern Territory, which I find somewhat unusual. In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to visit the—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Ballarat has the call.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hope my clock starts again after that appalling interruption. In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to visit the many tourism attractions in my great region. Those have been highlighted particularly as I went recently to the reopening of Kryal Castle in my electorate. What has been highlighted in particular is the support from the government to the tourism sector across the Central Highlands and Goldfields regions of Victoria.

One of the immediate highlights, as I said, was the reinvention and reopening of Kryal Castle, which is just on the outskirts of Ballarat. With Minister Ferguson, I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Kryal Castle redevelopment. The government provided $110,000 under the T-QUAL grants program for the new entrance attraction at the castle, the Labyrinth of the Dragon Sorcerer. This walk-though high-tech special effects family attraction is the new gateway and first impression of the castle, which has again become a great family attraction. The smiles on all the faces at the opening—particularly those of the eager children, including my own son—were demonstration enough that the redevelopment has sealed a very bright future for that tourism venture.

I have also recently visited the terrific Ballarat Wildlife Park, where the government has invested another $110,000 in T-QUAL funding for the new Crocodile Billabong Experience. If you live in the southern states, it is the only place you can see a great croc. I am sure you can see a few more in your own electorate, Madam Deputy Speaker O'Neill, but certainly in Ballarat there are not a lot of crocodiles. But the Ballarat Wildlife Park is where anyone in the southern states can have a great experience viewing a very large croc and a gator. The very large croc in residence and the other occupants of the existing facility will have much larger, more appropriate accommodation. Again, this is a great tourism facility.

Just last Friday I was at our fantastic Sovereign Hill, where we announced just on a quarter of a million dollars under the Tourism Industry Regional Development Fund to make it easier for people with special needs to visit Sovereign Hill and to stay in the accommodation there. Again, it is a fantastic facility in my electorate and a great tourism icon for the entire country. I am delighted to be able to announce that funding. This is alongside some fantastic work that is being done at the Clunes Museum and interpretive centre—some $2.7 million being invested there. Obviously, besides Sovereign Hill, we have seen smaller-scale tourism facilities like the Greendale half church and also the Daylesford Spa Country Railway in my electorate and the Creswick Woollen Mills—all fantastic tourism facilities. I would encourage all members to come and visit my electorate if they have the opportunity. There are some terrific things happening in tourism, and many a day can be spent visiting each of those.

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member. We will pack our bags for Ballarat.