Ms PLIBERSEK (9:52 AM) —I was very fortunate recently to be able to attend a committee meeting in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, where I met with a number of representatives from local industry. Mr Deputy Speaker, you will not be surprised to find that we met with representatives from the tourism industry, which of course is a very important industry, particularly in the Byron shire, and also right up and down the North Coast of New South Wales.

The representatives of the tourism industry were very keen to tell our committee that, while they saw tourism and hospitality as a growth industry in the area, and while they saw the importance of tourism and hospitality for jobs in the area, they were also very concerned about the local environment. The reason that tourism is so successful in that region is because it has such wonderful natural resources—beautiful beaches and a lovely hinterland. The tourism and hospitality operators to whom we spoke are very conscious of developing those resources sensitively to make sure that the industry is an ongoing and sustainable one, rather than one that is developed very quickly in the coming years and then peters out because the very thing that attracts people to the area is lost by overdevelopment.

I was also fortunate enough to speak to representatives of two new and emerging industries in the area. One was a local group of film-makers called Filmworks that is based in and around Byron Bay. This was a bit of a revelation for me. I did not realise that the film community in the area was quite so sophisticated. In fact, there are close to 400 producers and other people employed directly by the film industry in and around Byron Bay. The plans that they have for the development of the industry in the area are fascinating. The only thing that is really lacking is some vital infrastructure. Because much filmwork is now done digitally, the requirement to have high capacity telephone lines and other high capacity telecommunications technology is very important. Unfortunately, the industry is being let down in this area and growth is being constricted to a certain extent.

The other industry representatives that we met in the area were representatives from the information technology area who have set up the Northern Rivers Information Technology Group. They pointed to the fact that they have any number of very highly skilled people living in the area but the growth of the industry up there is again constrained by the narrow capacity of their telecommunications facilities. With greater telecommunications facilities, that area has the potential for exponential growth and to provide decent, well paid, high skilled jobs in the area. I look forward to continued investment in the telecommunications infrastructure which would allow both of those industries to continue the growth that, obviously, the people employed in those areas would like to see.