We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples and the Traditional Custodians of Ngunnawal Country, the land on which we meet today. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and also recognise any other people or families with connection to the ACT and Region.
Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP, Assistant Federal Minister for Competition, Employment and Treasury
Dr Leigh spoke about Canberra's history, the future of the AIS and funding for the arts and tourism sector.
Dr Leigh gave an Acknowledgment of Country and noted that Canberra is the only state or territory capital named by it’s indigenous inhabitants.
In 2010, Dr Leigh gave a speech at a ‘festival of dangerous ideas’, saying Canberra was the best city in Australia. 14 years on, he maintains this is true.
Dr Leigh quoted the 1906 scoping plan for the national capital and spoke about the history of how Canberra became the Nation's Capital.
The decision to build the national capital led to an international design competition in which Canberra - fittingly for an internationalist city - chose an overseas designer to lay down the plan.
Walter Burley Griffin had said that in his career, he would only enter one international design competition and this was it.
Burley Griffin spoke of creating a city based on egalitarian legislation, genuine public spirit and science...over a century on and his vision lives on.
There have been many governments who invested in Canberra, the Fisher and Chifley in particular.
But none has been as supportive as the Albanese government.
- Came to office after Canberra had received only 1/5th of their fair share of infrastructure spending.
- The NLA's Trove service was scheduled for cessation in 2023 due to budget restraints.
Since then,
- $535 million in funding announced over 4 years for the NGA, NLA, National Museum, MoAD, National Archives, NFSA, NPA and Bundanon. Questacon received an extra $60 million in additional funding and Gorman Arts received $5 million in 2023.
- $199 million funding for artists, organizations and projects across the country through the national cultural policy. Many Canberran institutions and artist events benefitted from this, including the Glassworks.
- $15 million for the AIS arena.
“The AIS is an effective place for sports of all flavours to locate, to train, to learn from one another and to ensure they’re as successful sportspeople as they can be”.
Regarding the public service
- 62% of Australian Public Service jobs are based in Canberra
- “We’re committed to a strong public service, and have been doing the heavy lifting to make that happen…not overdependence on consultants and contractors”.
- “We respect public servants and their frank and fearless advice”.
Our natural resources
This is of course, the bush capital and what makes the ACT special is that many Canberrans can look up to a wooded bush reserve or exercise in the bush in the morning, like I do
- Increased funding to national parks and waterways and fund removal of invasive specific.
- The ACT has received $3 million in funding to revegetate and protect our rivers and waterways.
Public transport
In 2022 The Albanese government invested $86 million for light rail stage two. We look forward to seeing a light rail network we carry tourists to our major attractions
- $5 million of upgraded cycling connections in inner north of Canberra
- Funding for the construction of the National Security Office Precinct in Barton.
The Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program
- Updated the program to ensure it’s fit for purpose and adding funding for regional and remote schools.
“That visit to the NGA may set a young person on a path to being an artist, a visit to Questacon may set them on the path to being a scientist…”
“This isn’t just a city for visiting, it’s the national capital for all Australians”.
Dr Leigh thanked attendees for all they do for the Tourism sector and reiterated that Canberra is the best city in Australia.
Matt Nobbs, Chair ACT Brumbies
Matt spoke about a new stadium for Canberra and the importance of the Brumbies to the Territory.
Matt has been on the Brumbies board for ten years and has lived in Canberra for over 50 years.
I feel part of this city, I’ve raised two children here with my wife. I’ve travelled around the world, lived in Brisbane and London but to live here is a privilege.
In 2023, the direct economic impact of interstate visitors coming to watch the Brumbies:
- Over 11k visitors, 68% of those visitors stayed overnight, the rest were day-trippers.
- Those visitors spent $3.8 million in 2023.
- The length of stay in 2023 was 2.47 nights on average, a 28% increase on 2022.
About their experience:
- 21% of attendees at games were from outside of ACT.
- 68% of those visitors told others to visit Canberra
- 14% believed their perception of Canberra had changed for the better.
Being the leading Australian Super Rugby club, the Brumbies are becoming a pathway for players. Potential players are moving from Sydney and Brisbane to come here and learn their craft.
What we’re finding now, is we’re getting potential players but also coaches and administrators.
For example, Dan Kelleher from Brisbane came to coach the Tuggeranong Vikings, then went on to be head coach of the Brumbies and then assistant coach of the Wallabies. He’s now overseas at Leicester and may well be the next Wallaby coach.
The stadium
“There’s been a lot of talk about stadiums and lack of, and the stadium we have at Bruce. It has the best playing surface in the country.”
“I’ve been to a lot of cities to watch sport, and my preference would be for a stadium in the middle of the city, it works in Melbourne, in Brisbane, in Sydney and Adelaide."
"I went to the test match in Adelaide last year, South Africa vs the Wallabies, stayed at the hotel connected to the stadium and didn’t leave that area for my visit”.
“Also, all of our transport comes to the city, tram, bus, roads.”
“We had the Brumbies launch at The Jetty a few weeks ago, and someone commented to me as the sun dropped, how great it would be to look across and see a stadium lighting up.”
“Regarding the 30k seater, I don’t know if we need one of that size.”
Question – The stadium is most likely to go out at Bruce, do you support a new stadium over a patch-up?
“You have to go a new stadium, the disruption to players and fans with a patch up…you go to these new stadiums now, and they’re truly first class. Our winters are harsh, and its hard to sit out in the cold.”
Question – Do we need a roof?
“I think we do, look at the Green Bay Packers who don’t have a roof and they make a point of it, being out in the cold”.
Question – What are we missing out on because of the state of the stadium?
“From a Brumbies perspective, we have one of the best sides in the country, we’re the best super rugby club, its hard when you’re averaging 8.5/9k crowds, and our great players deserve a bigger crowd.
We’re at the behest of a broadcaster that wants prime time games, we would like to do afternoon games and make it more family friendly. Without that, young families and our supporters in winter may choose to watch instead from a pub or club.”
Question – What’s the future of the club, in light of recent news about Rugby Australia and the Brumbies?
“It’s about control from their perspective, they’re in a financial bind. They haven’t come out of the pandemic very well and a poor broadcast deal has impacted financially too, so they’ve had to cut back their funding.”
“We’re a very lean organisation but we still produce from a performance perspective, we have that in our favour.”
Stuart Diver, General Manager of Thredbo Resort
Stuart spoke about the stunning winter and summer tourism growth in the Snowy Mountains
Stuart opened with a 2-minute video showcasing the mountain biking, concerts, skiing, snowboarding, winter, and summer attractions of Thredbo. Including the new Thredbo Alpine Coaster, “A gravity-fed roller coaster, first rides expect in Winter 2024”.
“We have just over 900,000 unique visitors to Thredbo alone. The ‘snow industry’ contribute 1.2 billion to the NSW economy alone.
We have 150 annual events in Thredbo, spread throughout the year, 100 major events through winter and 50 in summer.
Thredbo is unique because we have a head lease from NSW, so it’s a little bit like a dictatorship, we run it like a mining town, in a good way we can control what goes on in Thredbo”.
“Our guests, staff, locals, all feel like you’re coming to a community, to somewhere special. As the people who have that lease, we have a responsibility to respect that environment and provide a unique alpine experience”.
Summer season
Thredbo has the upcoming alpine coaster, which fits in their year-round strategy.
Summer is based on hiking and mountain-biking, winter on skiing and snowboarding. Everything else must be across both seasons, e.g. the alpine coaster and upcoming zip lines.
“It gives us an attraction that there’s for summer, but also if winter weather isn’t ideal, we have other attractions”.
Stuart spoke about Thredbo’s $200 million investment over the next 5-8 years, noting they have never received government funding.
He spoke about the government’s co-investment in Victoria in mountain biking trails and how the model is different to the way NSW operates, with Thredbo investing their own capital into building and maintaining their trails.
He raised concerns about the government investment in mountain bike trails without the sustainment and planning that goes into that. Stuart raised concerns over spreading the money too far and too wide, whereas funding could be spread into 3-4 regional hubs of which the Snowy Mountains would be one.
“In NSW they will build the trails then leave it to the community to maintain them”.
Stuart spoke about the four chair lifts that run year-round in Thredbo, used in summer for mountain biking, and the 12 people permanently employed to build and maintain their trails.
He mentioned this was “sustainable forever”, but the same model is “very difficult to do in a mountain bike park where it's cross country trails and no one really wants to pay for it.”
Stuart spoke about the huge growth in mountain bike riding, however interest in tourist rides has stayed stable over the decade. Thredbo runs over 200k chair lifts each year so people can visit Mt. Kosciuszko.
They have just completed the Cannonball Mountain Biking Festival, which has 3000 visitors including international teams.
It is unique as “kids as young as 10 could race against world champions.”
Winter season
Core business, 75% of revenue is made in winter. It always will be, mountain biking is about trying to not make a loss in Summer.
“Previously we would do maintenance in summer and make a loss, in the first post-covid year we actually broke even”.
“The demographic coming out of Sydney is quite stable, wealthy families who have always skied and always will. But now, we’re seeing wider demographics coming for ‘snow play’ tubing, tobogganing etc.”
“For us in Thredbo, we focus on the premium end of the market, we have limited space on the slopes, we want to make sure when they pay the amount they do, they have an experience that matches that.”
Closing comments
“We need to invest to provide premium products and facilities. We’ve got Merritts Mountain House, a $22 million restaurant and function centre being built, and our oldest chair lift is being replaced.”
“Regarding the Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct, a NSW initiative, we were hoping it would bring not just money but governance changes to the Snowy Mountains particularly to Jindabyne. It’s dragging its heels, and we hope the investment will come. As Thredbo we can only do so much, we need that investment.”
Dr David Marshall, Chair of the Leaders Forum once again thanked the supporting partners who make this possible. Attendees can access special deals from our partners, on our website.
We welcome new supporting partner, Hiebl photography.
Next forum Wednesday 3 April 2024.
Agenda:
9.00am David Pocock, Senator for the ACT
9.20am Stephanie Bull, Director MoAD on current and future plans for the Museum of Australian Democracy
9.40am Jan Hutton, CEO of Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, Australia's online marketplace for tourism information with over 50,000 tourism business listings