MR O’BRIEN ASKED THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND FAIR TRADING (MR LAWLOR) —
QUESTION:
Will the Minister advise the House the progress the Bligh Government has made in encouraging eco-tourism in Queensland?
ANSWER:
I am pleased to inform you that the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation in consultation with the Department of Environment and Resource Management and Tourism Queensland has made sound progress to implement the new ecotourism initiative announced by the Premier, Minister Jones and myself on 25 November 2009.
This new initiative is aimed at attracting new investment, ecotourism product development, enhancing visitor experiences, and creating new local jobs for the regional economies across a number of potential sites in Queensland.
Getting the fundamentals right for businesses is a key to ensure Queensland is competitively positioned to attract private investment.
On 30 April 2010, the Queensland Government called for the first Expressions of Interest at Ninney Rise, Mission Beach, Tropical North Queensland and is open to prospective investors until 11 June 2010.
To maximise potential investment interest, the Expressions of Interest for Ninney Rise was advertised in the Courier Mail on 5 May 2010 and the Australian Newspaper on 8 May 2010. The Expression of Interest has also been sent to the Queensland Government’s 14 Trade Commissioners overseas to attract foreign investment.
To assist potential investors with the Expressions of Interest process for the Ninney Rise site, the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation has developed:
A Site Prospectus detailing the ecotourism opportunity, cultural heritage, planning and zoning information;
Expressions of Interest Guidelines detailing the two stage tendering process; and
Probity Guidelines to ensure the tendering is carried out with the utmost probity and in a fair and transparent manner.
The Department of Environment and Resource Management has also developed best practice Sustainability Guidelines to ensure any potential development in and adjacent to protected areas are low impact, innovative, eco-friendly and sustainable to keep in line with the natural settings.
An open day for the Ninney Rise site was held at Ninney Rise on Tuesday, 18 May 2010. Eleven potential investors attended along with local environmental groups and members of the local community. Officers from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation and the Department of Environment and Resource Management presented the two stage Expressions of Interest tendering process to prospective investors and discussed Sustainability Guidelines at the open day.
An Evaluation Committee has been set-up with representation from the Queensland Government, the tourism industry, external commercial and technical advisors. A Probity Consultant has also been engaged to ensure a transparent process.
Further investigation is currently being undertaken by the Government to assess the suitability of other potential sites for low impact ecotourism opportunities.
As a result of the new initiative Queensland’s regional areas will benefit through increased economic activities in upstream (e.g. retail, meat industry) and downstream (e.g. wholesale trade, business services) industries through the multiplier effect of each dollar spent in the region by visitors, and create new jobs in the regions.
