**Check against delivery
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for the invitation to join your forum today.
And thank you to Wayne Bergmann and the Kimberley Land Council for hosting the gathering to share information amongst rangers and provide professional development and training opportunities over the next few days.
It is a very worthwhile initiative.
Let me say it is also a great pleasure to be in Kununurra and back at Home Valley Station.
I was here less than twelve months ago for the official opening of Home Valley Station, and it is encouraging to see what a successful project it has become.
The aim of the Home Valley redevelopment was to provide a unique tourism experience at the same time as assisting local Indigenous people gain accredited, certificate-level qualifications in pastoral operations, tourism, hospitality and horticulture.
Home Valley Station now provides opportunities for 14 Indigenous trainees each year in the various aspects of running the station as a tourism enterprise.
Indigenous tourism experiences like this are critically important because Indigenous tourism is one of Australia's important points of difference in the international market place.
The Australian Government wants to make this point of difference a competitive advantage by improving the capacity of Indigenous tourism businesses and promoting these unique experiences to the international market.
The Kimberley has the highest number of Indigenous tourism experiences on offer anywhere in Australia and the potential to build on that advantage is enormous.
Yesterday I launched the Kimberley National Landscape - Western Australia’s first region in the National Landscapes Program, which highlights unique destinations with iconic natural and cultural values across Australia.
As a National Landscape, Tourism Australia and Parks Australia will work with the Kimberley communities to bring together tourism industry and government stakeholders to identify commercial opportunities, environmental management priorities, infrastructure gaps, skills and labour gaps, and marketing plans.
The Kimberley’s rich Indigenous history and culture, pearling and mining history, ancient gorges, spectacular waterfalls, rugged wilderness and remote beaches make it an obvious choice for the National Landscapes Program.
Just look at how the amazing images of the Kimberley, filmed as part of the movie Australia, have enchanted people the world over.
But there’s much more to this than promoting the Kimberley as a world class tourist destination.
To ensure the long-term success of tourism in the Kimberley it is essential that we effectively manage the remarkable natural landscape of this region.
In destinations like the Kimberley, Indigenous rangers like yourselves are working hand in hand with local tourism operators to showcase the natural beauty of the landscape.
But at the same time, you are using your traditional knowledge of the country as well as science to minimise the impact of visitors and protect the environment.
Incorporating scientific ecological survey techniques with traditional ecological knowledge, rangers are undertaking baseline biodiversity surveys with the assistance of specialists, and developing ongoing monitoring programs.
This integration of traditional knowledge of the country with science is pivotal to the success of land management outcomes and reducing the impacts of visitors on the region's natural and cultural values.
Working on Country Program
The Australian Government's Working on Country Program is investing $229 million over five years to create 660 Indigenous ranger positions across the country.
In the Kimberley, $20 million has been provided to fund 65 ranger positions in eight communities through to 2013.
These jobs - your jobs - are building on the synergies between tourism and the protection and promotion of both the natural environment and Indigenous culture and heritage.
The ranger initiative is unique in bringing together traditional knowledge and science to maintain the natural and cultural values that attract people to the region.
Visitors to the region also want an experience that respects Indigenous culture and country.
Having rangers on country not only creates valuable jobs for people in remote areas, it generates opportunities for the transmission of cultural knowledge from elders to younger people.
Through these experiences, rangers are building the skills to interpret Indigenous culture and resource management practices for a non-Indigenous audience.
In the longer term this combination of cultural knowledge and cross-cultural skills will create important opportunities for the establishment of sustainable Indigenous tourism enterprises.
Developing sustainable Indigenous tourism enterprises creates employment and training opportunities, and holds the promise of increased and long-term economic independence for Indigenous communities and the families and individuals within them.
Grasping these opportunities is the real key to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and the ranger initiative - through your hard work - is moving us closer to realising that goal.
National Long-Term Tourism Strategy
In closing, let me say that the Government’s National Long-Term Tourism Strategy, which was launched in late 2009, is also focussing on the Indigenous tourism as a priority.
One of the key initiatives established under the Strategy was the Indigenous Tourism Working Group, which is tasked with examining ways to improve the quality of Australia’s Indigenous tourism product offering and to maximise the participation of Indigenous Australians in the tourism industry.
This will involve a range of activities including:
- reviewing and identifying gaps in existing government funding programs aimed at assisting in the development of Indigenous tourism businesses;
- developing quality Indigenous tourism product by addressing demand and supply side issues;
- promoting Indigenous leadership in the tourism industry; and
- encouraging Indigenous employment in the tourism industry.
As Minister for Tourism, this is one of my personal priorities and I would welcome your views about the things we can do to advance Indigenous tourism opportunities.
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the Forum and I'm sure it will provide valuable information, networks and tools to help you with your work in the future.