An AAP report says that a Federal Labor government will give $500,000 to the Parramatta region to help it become a tourist mecca, opposition tourism spokesman Martin Ferguson says.
The grant to Parramatta City Council in Sydney’s western suburbs would help the city become a tourist gateway to western NSW, Mr Ferguson said.
“If a Rudd Labor government is elected on November 24 an injection of $500,000, half a million, (will) enhance Parramatta as a tourist gateway to western NSW,” he told reporters in Parramatta.
Mr Ferguson, who lived in the Parramatta region until 1990, said the objective was to encourage people to stay overnight and see the sights.
“I’d love to be the minister of tourism, and given my connections to the Parramatta district, to see you grow in importance as a national tourism icon, that’s what potentially you are,” he said.
Federal Labor’s candidate for the Parramatta seat Julie Owens said the funding would go towards the first stage of a three-stage tourism strategy called The Nation’s Undiscovered Asset.
Ms Owens said it was about encouraging tourists heading to the Blue Mountains to see the heritage of Parramatta.
“The unique heritage of Parramatta is central to the region’s local identity and to the community as well, being an important first chapter in the settlement of Australia and the making of our nation,” she said.
Parramatta is Australia’s second oldest settlement, with some of the country’s earliest colonial architecture, including Old Government House, Hambledon Cottage and Elizabeth Farm.
Report by The Mole
