J.+6 _ THtr WEEKnNDAUSTRALTAN 22.

232OO9
AUGUST

Diversitvthe key asSunshine

'!It is vastlymadeup of pople like
mums aDd dads owning a B&B or a
group of five to 10 peopleworking on a

a/ .t "So, when thinss get tou8h,you doD't

get tens ol thousandsof pople laid ofi

Statedefiesthe downturn
tourism opefatorsare more likely to put
peopleoDpart time or ot backpeolle's
houB or juggle their statr,becausethey
are organisations,ratber than
'htmaie
The announced $328nillion tourjlm
Se n e ra ti uM n ,n h 8h s beenhrltd
jo the nextthreeyeas. "The Queendmd moreat risk tban othersand tbey have
T t so ,rl Ll el r ay Au \h a l i a n s felt the impact." Ho*et€r, he said,
packageprcvidesan qrra $36 miltion io
I si rl l c_ . r ' t . er it lJrlt hardduringihE downtum.but the iourism industry emPloysmore thin
t h- ur co fQu e c n s Tourism Queenslmd over three yea.s
resourcesarc still in the Ffound,aDd 119.000 peopleand contr'butes approtl thi.gs werestatinSto pick up:"We are
I l Jn d .d , t slif : r lr lead, a n ta S e s $aning to see somevery posttrvestSns
for new reeionally foosed tourism
I Speak.rBi. ?-.. Ausrfolln car|cr alreadyve afe seeingihe bi8 companies Datele $9 billion a year to the State ma*eting and product developmenr
this wcek.ihe Quee:dandEnploymenl lookingto reiDvest in Queensland. economr,"Ms BliShsard.^'That'swhy and someoI the saleswe de doingare
stdting to kick in asvell. campaisns, and Drcvides $1.8 millioD
Mini$er and Trcasure., Andlcw Fraser,"As a govemment, we have a tinele this new fu.ding has been targeted to over tbree yeds to deliver roadside
said people v/€re voting with thet fcet focuson protectingahdoeatiDsjobs,be direcdy benefit our tourism opeEtoE to "The beautyof Quensland is there Intrastructureto supportthe drive travel
andcomiDgto Queend$diiom the rest theyin newindNtriesorthtuoSbnahon' protect iobsduing thesedifri@lt times " are so many djflerent tt?es of producis
leadingpro8ramslike our CreenArny, a Mr Hayessaid:"We arerunniDga lot that we offe. The Gold Coasi is very
of Ffaser Speahingedlier ih the year, P.emiel
yeef, 4ur populationincreased $57 milion ptu8.am to employ 3000 of lery aggEssivesals and mafketing dilTerentto the Whitsundays
Bligh said the new funding was in
"Last campaigns. trying to attmct as many hldd or Crimsorihe Outlack.
by 2000 FeoFl.ea.h wcek.And *hY?" sorkeN for en{ronmentally tiendlr addition to the more thm $137million
he alked. "'B.rause Queensland is a visitoE as to comeduringthe "Most importantly, working in alreadycommitted to Tourism Queens
Srowth !lai-".
rlr'e hale ouQaced ihe ToLrrism, in palticuhr.is aD iDdustrt tou8htimes, iustto protectjobs,
'rolsible nothing Queenslandwas Dot just aboui tahng land over the ne\t thre yas.
nationalsio.oht lor the iast U yeaF, which often takes a batte.inS durine home a paydeque at the end of the Atday Aom burism, Ms B1i8hearlier
and we aE .r trck to do so rgain in glooDier(onomic pedodsbul in the He saidhe wa! nho concentntrhS on weeL Ultimately.when you make a
aeatingjobs.Cairns,anpartiolar, had this month rude a pitch forjobs for the
2009-10. curent domturn. the Ou.enslandGov decisionaboutjobs you de making a
,.Queelsland's!r:iiployrent rate ement have etectively quarantined been doing it pfetty toush, he said,but decisionaboutlifesryleand that\ oneof Sunshine State with a bid to make
Queensland, the bomeoI tb€ headoffice
renainslowerth2r lhe aaticidl averaSe, tourismjobs.The key has beena hu€e the Gold Coasthas ben doing PrettY the things that we sell. There are a ibr the FederalGovernment\$:13billion
md the bi8stateecli{SW aM Victoria. luhdinSbonanza andan agsessivesalcs well "Yet. leavjngthe regjonsto one varietyofjobs out therebut the lilts]fle
investmeDt
side,therearecertainmafkelsthat have in the NationalBroadband
"Impoi.rrll Qu.ersland\ econonry
isdive$e.W,. n. lciFcr havea rocks and The head of Queensland Tourism, beendoingwellandceriainmarketsthat "Do you wmt to In'ein a big city or .lo
you want to try somethingin the bush? "This meanspresenrhgan dSument
.rops ecoiomy,'r hc said. "We hale Anthony Hayes,said he had clear riding to the AushalianFu\crnmcnrrhat tocat
daintaiDed tfaditional strenSthssuch as instructions fiom Prenier, Anna Blighl "Swine flu is a Sreatexanple.We That} lhe beautyof ouf placetherc is
iDg the NBN companyhead ofice in
agri.uliureandtourism. butno]| leadthe . " fhe only locu I hale for the next 12 have seehan enormou!amout ofAsian ihai vdiety of choiccsto make" Bdsbaneis in ihe naiionalintercsr,"she
countryin areassuchasbiotechDol.'gy, monihsor so ! to prctectiobsat elery iourilts disappearat a time when we He said the tourism indultrY was said."ln additionto lrorkingwirh the
aviationand.reativendustnes. opporiunity,"he told T,reAustraiidn. would have nomally sen bi8 move- difrerent to hearT industry like car
year the state's mentr ol go'rps coming in. Australiu govemment on the nation
"Our em.rgrnsLN(i i.d$try is also ftarlier this during makingor mjningin the way opdators wide rollout, we a.e determinedto bdng
predicted to i.eatcihousands of newjobs el<tion cmpaigD, Ms B1i8hPledeed '^Schools grcups out of Japan, for appro:ched m (onomic domtum.
that head office here and will do
in the .omitil yeF. We snl hnle nqny $8 million in new tourism erJmplc ha\r JLrst(opperl hJvelling "It's all about small busines4, not evdtthing in ou. powerto do so.,,
sisnificant natu$l iesources that con- initiatives as Dart of a rccord tourism mFvhere.This hasletl t troduct\ that large.orponnons wbi.b employ 50,000
ti;ue to drive (\nom!c ercirth and job marketingmd inftastructurepacl.agefor rely on the Japanesemarketr becomiDs Queetrland had speDt$42.4billioD oD
inftastructure prcjeG over the past
three yeats aDd 918.2bjllioD is alloated

"Tbis hasbroughtwith it both major

project er?edencefrom around Austra
lia and aroundthe world and a strons
base oi ei?erienced professionalsro
Queensland," shesaid
M! Blish addedrh:t the statehad also
invested over $l billion in science
infrastructure over the past l0 yeus.
which had leveraseda further $1.7billion
frorn the federal government, ftom
philanthmpic orsdisations and from