Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Last Friday night in Freo, I joined WA colleagues and tourism champions from across the country for the 2025 Australian Tourism Awards. It was a very fitting location, with Freo having won the Australia's top Tourism Town Award just last year and the iconic Pinky Beach having placed itself in the second place for best beach in Australia.

There were many winners that night, all of whom deserve a shout-out, but to do that I would literally be here all day, so I thought I would just highlight a few of the winners. Not to be biased, but Queensland absolutely cleaned up. I want to give a special 'huzza' to the Abbey Medieval Festival, which had a gold win in the festivals and events category. South Australia, Senator Grogan, can be incredibly proud of the Big Duck Boat Tours and their gold win in ecotourism. Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance won a gold for cultural tourism, and the Western Australian Gourmet Camp Oven Experience took home two golds for their amazing work in food tourism. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to include Floriade here in Canberra. Chief Minister Andrew Barr took gold on the night.

I want to congratulate all of the winners and finalists and implore everyone to take a look at the list when planning your next getaway in our very great country. The tourism industry contributes 700,000 jobs to this great country, and these awards were all about acknowledging those workers and these businesses and the contribution that they make to the Australian economy.