Mr BARTLETT (9:55 AM) —Two years ago when I first addressed the parliament I stated that one of my objectives was to see progress on the world heritage listing of the Blue Mountains. Therefore, it is a delight for me to announce this morning that just 20 minutes ago the Minister for the Environment (Senator Hill) announced that the bid for world heritage nomination for the Blue Mountains has been completed and it will be sent by the end of this month to UNESCO in Paris. It is a real pleasure to hear that and it is greatly satisfying to see that finally happening. This is the culmination of four years of hard work, cooperative work, by local community organisations, the New South Wales state government and the Commonwealth government.

Those of us who live in the Blue Mountains have always known what a special place it is. It is a place of spectacular beauty, a place with many wonderful features, and it is a real pleasure to live there. However, world heritage nomination means that as well as being a place of spectacular beauty it will also be recognised as a place of global significance, both in terms of its natural features and in terms of some of its cultural features.

The nomination of the Blue Mountains for world heritage listing involves one million hectares of national parks. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, the Wollemi National Park, Yengo, Nattai, Kanangra Boyd, the Gardens of Stone, Thirlmere Lakes, and Jenolan Caves national parks.

The nomination of the Blue Mountains for world heritage listing will mean many things for the residents of the mountains. First of all, it will quite appropriately increase their sense of pride in their local region. It will increase their commitment to maintaining the natural beauty of the mountains and to doing everything they can to foster and protect the natural environment of the region.

It will also mean an enormous boost for tourism. People travel from far and wide to visit the Blue Mountains to take in the beauty that we have there. World heritage listing will be a great boost for ecotourism. We are hopeful that the listing will occur before the Sydney Olympics, so this should be a great boost to tourism in the region. Tourism in the Blue Mountains is the prime generator of employment. So not only does this listing add further protection for the environment of the Blue Mountains national parks region of over one million hectares; it will also provide a great boost for the tourist and hospitality industries, and a great boost for employment opportunities for those people within the region.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Nehl) —Order! In accordance with sessional order 275A, the time for members' statements has concluded.