Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister Assisting on Tourism, Senator Farrell. Could the minister outline to the Senate how the Gillard government is supporting the tourism sector in regional Australia?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallacher for his question and his well-known interest in the Australian and particularly the South Australian tourism industry. The Gillard government supports tourism across Australia, including in our regions, through a range of targeted grants programs and initiatives and through our highly effective marketing tool, Tourism Australia.

In the 2012 round of our T-QUAL Grants Program, nearly 90 per cent of successful applications were from outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with a very high proportion being from regional areas. There were 294 applications received for the current T-QUAL round, which closed on 3 May. Successful applicants will be announced later this year and we expect many regional projects to again earn a grant. Direct support for our regional tourism sector is provided through our $48.5 million Tourism Industry Regional Development Fund grants program, known as TIRF. Successful applicants under the first round of TIRF were announced in March. In that round we initially offered a total of $13.5 million, Senator Ronaldson, to 65 successful applicants, leveraging a total of $141 million investment in regional tourism across Australia. An additional 19 high-quality projects will share in a total of $4.3 million funding under the round 1 projects.

Round 2 of TIRF opens today. I was very pleased to be able to announce the second round on Saturday at the Seppeltsfield Estate Winery in South Australia's iconic Barossa Valley. Seppeltsfield has been offered $250,000 under round 1 of our TIRF program. The winery owners believe the projects, with the support of TIRF, will boost their visitor numbers by 30 per cent.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate across the chamber should cease.

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister outline the specific benefits of round 2 of the Tourism Industry Regional Development Fund grants program?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallacher for his supplementary question. Round 2 of the TIRF program opens today and closes on 7 August. The second round is making nearly $10 million available for projects that will boost regional tourism. Many of the successful projects will be bricks-and-mortar initiatives that will improve the quality of existing tourism destinations, products and services. Others will be new and innovative tourism developments.

We have also included a specific labour and skills funding stream in this round, called Labour and Skills Enhance. This stream makes more than $2 million available for projects that improve regional Australia's capacity to increase tourism labour supply and lift service quality. This funding will support labour and skills related infrastructure such as training centres or staff accommodation. It is also available for a broad range of projects that deliver targeted, practical measures to address labour and skills needs such as the training programs and regional tourism. (Time expired)

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides! I insist that we have quiet so that the person asking the question can be heard in silence. To my right, order!

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister outline to the Senate why it is important to support the tourism sector in regional Australia?

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on both sides!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallacher for his excellent supplementary question. Forty five cents in every dollar spent on tourism in Australia is spent in regional destinations. There were nearly two million international visitors to regional Australia in the year 2012 and collectively they spent about $3 billion. Domestically, there were 47 million visitors to regional Australia and they spent more than $23 billion.

Clearly, tourism is an integral part of the local economy for many regional areas. The labour statistics suggest that tourism's contribution to regional economies is growing. International tourists are increasingly looking for uniquely Australian experiences, many of which are in our regions. Australian holidaymakers are visiting our regions more often and spending more time and more money in those areas, which is supporting local jobs and regional economies, even in Far North Queensland, Senator. This government's support for regional tourism is helping the industry to— (Time expired)

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.