Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I encourage the nation to take a trip away from the every day and take a theme park one-day holiday. In my electorate, the biggest employers in the northern Gold Coast with almost 8,000 Australians employed—so countless tens of thousands of families being supported—are the great theme parks. We are the theme park capital of the nation with Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Movie World, Wet'n'Wild, Australian Outback Spectacular, Paradise Country, Wet'n'Wild Buggy—Queensland's first driving adventure park—and, of course, across the Broadwater in the neighbouring electorate of Moncrieff is Sea World.

There was that wonderful ad in the 80s where Dreamworld was positioning itself in terms of 'Take a trip away from the everyday, take a dream world one-day holiday. Don't say one day, that day will never come'. Let me say that that day is now: come along to the Gold Coast and experience some of the great theme parks of the world.

If you look at Dreamworld, the opportunities there are huge. Not only are there the big 10 rides in terms of great roller-coasters and the like, there is Tiger Island, which has been completely redone and has daily tiger shows. WhiteWater World is superb, especially for parents to sit in the one location and watch their kids. There is the Dreamworld Corroboree experience that I opened, which is probably the only Indigenous corroboree experience attached to a major theme park and, of course, there is a major DreamWorks experience along with that.

If we go to Movie World, it is about to open the DC Rivals HyperCoaster. This is 1.4 kilometres at 115 kilometres per hour of pure adrenaline—the tallest, longest, fastest hyper-coaster in the Southern Hemisphere, opening in October this year. These are world-class attractions on the northern Gold Coast.

This parliament knows that—I have spoken of it extensively—we had a tragedy at Dreamworld less than 12 months ago. But the industry has risen, and the safety concerns have all been alleviated. The theme parks on the Gold Coast are the safest in the world. I go there often with my three sons. I am a pass holder for all of the major theme parks. Many times after school, I will take my boys there.

It is a marvellous opportunity to come along and take a holiday. I encourage not just the House and my colleagues, but the whole country. Do not say 'one day'; that day is never going to come. Come to the northern Gold Coast and get involved. Come along to these great theme parks. Choose any of them—Dreamworld, WhiteWater World, Movie World, Wet'n'Wild, Australian Outback Spectacular, Paradise Country, Wet'n'Wild Buggy, or go across the water to Sea World, but do not say 'one day'; come today.