❓ Opposition questions the government's alleged 44% cut to destination marketing funding and its impact on regional WA tourism. The Minister defends the government's record on tourism, citing record visitation and spending.
AnsweredQoN 269Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Destination marketing—Funding
269. Mr Scott Leary to
the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the
Tourism Council Western Australia's warning that the government's 44% cut to
destination marketing will hurt regional WA. Why is the Cook Labor government
cutting the funding that helps bring visitors, businesses and jobs to our
regional communities?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Treasurer!
269. Mr Scott Leary to
the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the
Tourism Council Western Australia's warning that the government's 44% cut to
destination marketing will hurt regional WA. Why is the Cook Labor government
cutting the funding that helps bring visitors, businesses and jobs to our
regional communities?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Treasurer!
AnswerView source ↗
Is this an area where
the member for Albany wants to cut or spend more? What is it? Does he want to
spend more? We need more spending, do we?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Members of the opposition,
five seconds—that is all the minister has been going. Let him respond to
the question.
Mr Reece Whitby: We seem to be getting a lot of mixed
messages from this opposition. One minute, what are we doing? We are cutting in
health?
Ms Rita Saffioti: We are spending too much.
Mr Reece Whitby: We are spending too much. Member for
Albany, no government has done more for tourism than the current Cook Labor
government. I think he would be aware of that. I remember recently in
Parliament when he had high praise for this government and its initiatives in a
whole range of tourism measures.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: We are very proud of what we are
doing in tourism. We are proud of all the things we are doing, whether it is
supporting businesses on the Coral Coast, whether it is supporting businesses
right around Western Australia or whether we are bringing amazing, exciting
events to Western Australia. The AFL Origin match and all the international
events that we have seen are continually criticised by members opposite,
including the Leader of the Opposition. Again, there are those mixed messages: they
want us to do something and then they do not want us to do something. It is usually
the same types of issues with the same types of outcomes.
We are very proud of
our commitment to tourism. We will continue to promote this state. The next
iteration of the Walking on a Dream campaign is being released across world
markets. It is aimed at bringing international visitors to our state. We will
continue to support that because it is important, and I will continue to go to
other parts of the world to encourage more direct services to Western Australia
so we get more tourism and more visitors to this state.
Can I remind members
that, just last year in 2025, we had record visitation from overseas? We
cracked one million overseas visitors for the first time in our history. We
cracked a new record in tourism spending in Western Australia of almost
$12 billion—$1 billion ahead of forecasts. This government is
supporting tourism like no other government in history, and the results speak
for themselves.
the member for Albany wants to cut or spend more? What is it? Does he want to
spend more? We need more spending, do we?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Members of the opposition,
five seconds—that is all the minister has been going. Let him respond to
the question.
Mr Reece Whitby: We seem to be getting a lot of mixed
messages from this opposition. One minute, what are we doing? We are cutting in
health?
Ms Rita Saffioti: We are spending too much.
Mr Reece Whitby: We are spending too much. Member for
Albany, no government has done more for tourism than the current Cook Labor
government. I think he would be aware of that. I remember recently in
Parliament when he had high praise for this government and its initiatives in a
whole range of tourism measures.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Reece Whitby: We are very proud of what we are
doing in tourism. We are proud of all the things we are doing, whether it is
supporting businesses on the Coral Coast, whether it is supporting businesses
right around Western Australia or whether we are bringing amazing, exciting
events to Western Australia. The AFL Origin match and all the international
events that we have seen are continually criticised by members opposite,
including the Leader of the Opposition. Again, there are those mixed messages: they
want us to do something and then they do not want us to do something. It is usually
the same types of issues with the same types of outcomes.
We are very proud of
our commitment to tourism. We will continue to promote this state. The next
iteration of the Walking on a Dream campaign is being released across world
markets. It is aimed at bringing international visitors to our state. We will
continue to support that because it is important, and I will continue to go to
other parts of the world to encourage more direct services to Western Australia
so we get more tourism and more visitors to this state.
Can I remind members
that, just last year in 2025, we had record visitation from overseas? We
cracked one million overseas visitors for the first time in our history. We
cracked a new record in tourism spending in Western Australia of almost
$12 billion—$1 billion ahead of forecasts. This government is
supporting tourism like no other government in history, and the results speak
for themselves.
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