Heritage Week Directions Statement 2000

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Heritage tourism - Securing jobs and economic growth

The figures for heritage tourism are impressive.

In 1998, 47% of international visitors to Australia visited national parks.44% visited botanic gardens.

27% visited art galleries and museums.

33% visited historic buildings.

10% visited Aboriginal art and cultural centres, and 7% visited Aboriginal sites or communities.

The Opera House attracts 44% of all visitors to Sydney; The Rocks 33%. All this is a significant boost to the economy.

Another example of heritage and economic success is the Queen Victoria Building.

A building that some wanted to see demolished is another of Sydney's most visited tourist attractions and a stunning example of adaptive re-use.

Now:

occupancy is at 99%
economic performance, even including refurbishment costs, is at 15.4%, well above the industry average of 11.95%.
capital value has risen by more than three times the State average.

Clearly heritage protection provides the opportunities for employment, economic gain and even greater enjoyment of our past.

Heritage tourism is an area where the public and private sectors and community organisations like the National Trust can work in partnership.

Education and Training

Education and Training in heritage is already receiving my attention.

Introducing kids to heritage at school isn't by itself going to turn them into heritage enthusiasts.

We need to find interesting ways of linking the heritage theme to the major interests of young people, such as sport and popular music.

Already we have developed a set of materials for theHuman Society and its Environmentprimary curriculum.

These are the first materials to be released to schools for the new curriculum; they have been distributed to every primary school in the State.

Also, yesterday I launched the Heritage Trades Training Strategy. It is a joint initiative of the Department of Education and Training, the Heritage Branch and the Department of Public Works.

This program targets apprentices and tradespeople and will train them in the additional skills needed to preserve and maintain our heritage buildings.

They will be taught heritage brickwork, carpentry and joinery, painting and decorating, plastering, roof plumbing and stonemasonry.

Up to 120 training opportunities will be funded for this year alone.

Through this program more young people will have the opportunity to learn a heritage trade which can lead to long term employment.

This training in Heritage Trades will particularly benefit young people in rural areas.

Partnerships with owners

I hope that one of the hallmarks of the next phase of heritage management will be an increase in the number of owners seeking voluntary listing of their properties.

A recent addition in this vein has been the owner's instigation of the listing of Fairwater.

In some suburbs, well-maintained listed properties with original features command much higher prices than their compromised neighbours.

Elsewhere there is a perception that listing can work in the opposite direction by reducing the development potential of a site.

The Heritage Branch will undertake a study to sort out the fact from the fiction.

The Heritage Act gives me the power as Minister to enter into agreements with owners and to provide financial and other incentives in exchange for the achievement of specific conservation goals.

I want to involve owners and managers of listed properties much more in the decisions that affect them because their support is vital to the working of an effective heritage system.

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