The Opposition has urged the Cook Labor Government to commit to keeping WA’stourism attractions open following their announcement that Horizontal Falls inthe North West will close at the end of 2027.
This has followed months ofspeculation after calls from Traditional Owners to close attractions includingHorizontal Falls, Nature’s Window, Wave Rock and the Gloucester Tree due tocultural concerns.
Shadow Minister for TourismLouise Kingston has responded stating there needs to be a considered andcommon-sense approach.
“Tourism is amulti-billion-dollar industry with thousands of hard-working West Australiansrelying on the sector to put food on the table”.
“The closure of HorizontalFalls, just one attraction, will take away 58 jobs and cause an estimated lossof $15 million dollars.
“Where will the State LaborGovernment stop? There is no doubt every natural attraction in WA is at risk.
Ms Kingston also said that theGovernment needs to remove uncertainty for the thousands of tourism businesses.
“The State Labor Government andthe Minister for Tourism needs to work to address any concerns and come up witha solution that ensures these attractions remain open for visitors to enjoy foryears to come.” Mrs Kingston said.
Shadow Minister for theEnvironment Neil Thomson said the Cook Government has once again failed tobalance the interests of all parties and demonstrated no leadership with thisdecision.
“This situation should not havebeen allowed to reach this conclusion. The interests of tourism operators, theKimberley business sector, the Broome community, and the wider Australianpublic have not been represented in this decision.
The State Government alsoannounced today that new experiences were to be developed for Horizontal Fallsand yet failed to provide any detail on what those experiences were.
“It’s safe to assume the CookGovernment’s promise of more attractions, without providing any details, islittle more than spin.
“I feel for those families whowill lose their livelihood and I am angry that the people of Broome have beendealt yet another blow.”
