Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum THURSDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2024

The Hon Tony Burke MP, Federal Minister for the Arts, Employment and Workplace Relations

Mr Burke spoke about the value of our national cultural institutions, and his commitment to funding their future.

• Mr Burke spoke about a new focus of television producers on Canberra as a shooting destination.
• We're now seeing what the US has, the potential for TV drama in the capital.

Our storytellers are now seeing that so many stories live here, a natural centre of all Australian stories.

• The concept of 'going to the capital' is something all people want to do when they visit a country.
• All of the capital institutions live here, with the exception of Bundanon, which is embedded in it's landscape, and the National Maritime Museum, because "its difficult to sail to Canberra."

These institutions include, the Museum of Australian Democracy, the National Archives, the National Film and Sound archives, the National Gallery, the National Library, the National Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery.

• Mr Burke spoke about what he thought was the best part of the institutions - the pieces people take away that they didn't intend to.

"When someone has carefully curated an institution, you walk away with a different takeaway than you had anticipated."

• Mr Burke spoke about his experience on a tour of Parliament House. In one of the corners of the public area is a women's suffrage banner from marches in London in 1911.
• In 'You Daughters of Freedom' by Clare Wright, the stories of Australian women are told, their incredible impact on the Suffragette movement.
• In this banner is one example of the story of Australia finding their voice, our growing independence and confidence is seen in that banner.
• But, very few people would go to Parliament house seeking that banner.

That's what we want to replicate, you go for the draw of the big institution but walk away with something new to talk about

Old Parliament House (OPH)

• "Unlike other institutions, OPH has the Museum of Australian Democracy, and has stories in its walls."
• "As you stand in King's Hall, you hear the echoes of Australians, of Gough Whitlam delivering his speech on the day of his dismissal.
• "You get the sense of physicality and size. What people don't expect is how cramped the offices and rooms are, how small the press gallery is."
• "It leaves people with a conversation about Australian democracy that is only possible because they went there"

For these experiences to happen, they must be funded properly.

• "The state of disrepair of the national institutions was a national embarrassment"
• "Works of art at the National Gallery worth half a million dollars were within sight of buckets for roofs that were leaking"
• "It's difficult to ask for funding when the first part of the work is just getting it up to scratch...but the alternative is unthinkable".

"For the boards we appoint, we want them to think of new experiences our visitors will take away."

For example, at the National Gallery, the The Aboriginal Memorial was moved from the bottom of the escalator to the entryway, because no one was walking through them.

Now, all of the tours start there and they experience it fully. The river through the Arafura Sea, the different ochres corresponding to the country. You wouldn't experience that only by looking at it. Thinking about the visitor experience like that is great.

One of the principles for Mr Burke's cultural policy is that there is a place for every story and a story for every place.

We want to house them, but also share them throughout Australia.

For example, Margaret Olley's home has been rebuilt in the northern rivers.

What that does, is it says "this is just a piece, if you want to see the full, come to the Capital."

Sharing the collection - far from diminishing our role as the National Capital - will very seriously enhance it.

Mr Burke spoke about the role of philanthropy, how its hard to ask for investment when they see the Government is not looking after the basic infrastructure. They want to be able to see the value-add in their contribution.

He spoke about how, "for many people attending a gallery or exhibition, they may feel it's not for them."

• That's why we have a great school experience for students and children.
• "We always want them to view it as a door open for them."
• "And I have been changing the composition of our boards to do this. The NGA board has more artists on it, the NMA now has a historian on it."

"As a Government, we have a cultural policy because we believe Australian stories are worth telling."

• "Finally, we need to end this stupid debate that hearing our stories and loving our stories, is an elitist thing. We should never be a nation where access to our stories and love for them, is limited to how much money you have."
• "You as operators in the ACT, are essential to that experience."
• "In preparation for this speech, we spoke with the institutions, and all told us that the unexpected feedback they get is that people were excited to meet their guide, to hear from a storyteller."

One of our intrinsic strengths is the people of Canberra.

Question: You confirmed you'll continue funding the institutions, what about capital works?

“With the announcement we made, there’s capital funding and central resource funding. With that money, governments often make the announcement and only put it in the forward estimates. That funding is all continuing…it would have to be an active government cut for that money to disappear. Certainly, that’s not where this government is coming from.

Further to that, the institutions can now go through a process when they need major capital works.

So there’s three lines: announced funding for capital, funding for ongoing work and that process for additional capital work.”

Question: How important is it for those 180,000 school students to come to Canberra?

"It's not only important, it's personal for me. I remember going on my own trip, and Malcolm Fraser was making a speech and Bob Hawke was calling 'bull'...There was all this energy in the building.

I then returned as a student to the Senate chamber on the final night. I never felt it was foreign to me, it was something I'd always been to. Having that is really important.

However, getting students from further away is a struggle and we're working on it. But, I don't want to give the expectation that we will expand it, as I've just made a considerable ask to get the institutions back up to scratch."

Melissa Brown, CEO Australian Business Events Association (ABEA)

Melissa Brown spoke about the ABEA and it’s importance to the business events sector and Australian economy more broadly.

Background on ABEA

• Established in July 2023

“There’s international attention as we see how the amalgamation of our largest associations goes.

Covid was the catalyst, as things changed it was hard to get funding as there wasn’t clarity on what business events were. We wanted to unify, align strategically, and get the industry the attention it gets.”

Industry Overview

The business events industry was generating $36bil in Australia in FY19.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)

“John Hart spoke in the December Forum about the impact on the industry very similarly.

Visa and migration policies are essential for us to ensure we have the talent and people for our industry.

Confused data he also mentioned. We lack data to define the business events. We know it generates more economic value than leisure, without having the same volume.

For example, you may know there’s people for Floriade, but not that there’s 3000 ophthalmologists here for a long stay and conference.”

Sustainability

“We want to be seen as a country leading in this area. However, we’re very remote and so we have to overcome our carbon footprint in other ways, to present ourselves as a really sustainable destination.

So cultural respect is a big area for us, with Australia having the oldest culture in the world. We should be integrating that a lot more into our offering.”

The ACT

ACT has a number of strengths, politics draws people here, but so does the knowledge economy. There's a lot of collaboration between business events and universities to put Australia on the world stage and help drive results.

There's hotel work, and business events help drive that.

“We’re standing in a convention centre built in 1989, and while management does well, we are behind other cities like Perth, Cairns and countries like New Zealand who have built three more centres. Canberra Convention Centre is already booked out for 2024, we are at capacity.

We need more business coming in, but we just can’t take it here.”

ACT in Action

16% of international and 23% of domestic spend is down to business events. $750m to September 2023 and over 700K+ visitors for it.

"For example, Early Childhood Australia National Conference came in 2022 but it has grown beyond our capacity. We don’t have the facilities, but it would be great to have them back."

Join the ABEA