Mr KATTER (9:52 AM) —A new premier attraction for North Queensland, the wonderful Mareeba Wild Animal Park, is probably the most important man-made tourist attraction in Queensland. In North Queensland, of course, we have our magnificent Barrier Reef; we have our jungles; we have our waterfalls; we have whitewater rafting; we have the wind farm—an international tourist attraction at Ravenshoe; and we have Mick Tobone's croc farm at Innisfail. We have Trevor Allwood's wood factory at Tolga; we have the Fascinating Facets Rock Shop at Atherton; and we have the Wait a While Art and Craft at Malanda—three of the best value for money gift shops in Australia, and maybe anywhere in the world, although that may be going too far. We are about to build the canopy walkway between Innisfail and Atherton. These are world-class attractions.

The Mareeba Wild Animal Park will give us lions, tigers, white rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, monkeys and various other species that can be seen in very few parks in the entire world. David Gill, the founder of this park, which he started last year, has had 10 years experience running his own zoos in England. I have personally, and I think everyone else has, checked out his bona fides. He has a very outstanding background. He has come to Australia and we are very honoured to have him. The opening ceremony was attended by a state member of parliament and a minister of the state government, Dr Lesley Clark; there was a federal member of parliament, which of course was me; and there was the Chairman of the North Queensland Government Association, Mick Borzi, who is probably the most famous man in North Queensland—the road to the international airport in North Queensland is named after him. All of these people were there and it was a very great event in the history of North Queensland. I also attended the rodeo last year in Mareeba with Tom Braes—one of the leading lawyers in North Queensland and president of the local Chamber of Commerce—and David Gill, the founder of this zoo park, although we did not see much of David as he was playing with his little baby son.

The park has a Sumatran tiger, which is very rare. Some white rhinoceroses are about to come, we hope, and they are very rare too. The park consists of 26 hectares, which I think makes it the biggest open range park in Australia. It is most certainly much bigger than Dubbo. I have been to the zoo at Dubbo, and the animals are very enclosed there.

David Gill had contracted to buy the white rhinos, the hippopotamuses and the antelopes from a park that was collapsing in the Northern Territory. Having asked in August for all the permits, he still has not got them—and it is now March! Two days after complaining publicly about this, he was raided—like a common criminal. His wife was in her pyjamas and she was not even allowed to change her clothing. She had a little baby in her arms and she was not allowed to go to the bathroom. He was bad-mouthed in the national media by these terrible people from the state government and is now in desperate trouble and his park is in great danger. (Time expired)