Mr NAIRN —My question is addressed to the Minister for Sport and Tourism. Given the ongoing affects of the Asian crisis on inbound tourism, can the minister explain what the government is doing to ensure that the tourism industry, which is a prominent industry in my electorate of Eden-Monaro, remains viable and prosperous?

Mr ANDREW THOMSON (Sport and Tourism;Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Sydney 2000 Games) —Mr Speaker, I join with you in welcoming members of the parliament of New Zealand visiting Australia. In doing so, I note that the growth rate of tourists from New Zealand is very high. Indeed, it is in the low teens. Ladies and gentlemen, you are most welcome in our country. While you are here, if you have some spare time, I urge you to consider a holiday in this country and, in particular, in the seat of Eden-Monaro, not far from the capital city of Canberra where we sit now.

Mr Martin —It will only cost you $2 to have tea and scones with the local member.

Mr Lee —He charges $2.

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Cunningham and the member for Dobell! If members of the opposition front bench would just wait for afternoon tea until later, we might allow the Minister for Sport and Tourism to respond. Members of opposition will remain silent!

Mr ANDREW THOMSON —It is one of those parts of Australia where on the same day you can catch yellowfin tuna and ski some of the best ski fields in the Southern Hemisphere. In the last couple of days the member for Eden-Monaro and I, when meeting a delegation of tourism leaders from his electorate, discussed the third of the three great initiatives the Howard-Fischer government has taken to deliver to the tourism industry both the support it needs in a time of some difficulty and also the opportunity to prosper in the years hence. This is the government's national action plan for tourism, which I announced last week in Melbourne. It is a road map for the tourism industry for the future, divided largely into three sections: dealing with the selling and promoting of Australia; dealing with the sorts of measures we have to undertake in government to make it a more competitive industry; and the sorts of measures, likewise, across all portfolios to better prepare people working in enterprises in the tourism industry to prosper in the future.

The tourism industry has opportunities; it also has threats. One of those threats is a party that wants to strengthen the role of trade unions in small business. Nothing could be more pernicious for people seeking to prosper in the tourism industry. Likewise, there are people in the political arena who would do other things or put forward policies that would give the impression beyond our borders that we do not welcome people from overseas. Nothing could be further from the truth.