Sage Eugenie; Nash StuartHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Thank you Madam Chair. The big $400 million investment in the tourism sector has been the biggest investment by any Government ever. The Tourism Futures Taskforce has come out with an interim report which has been released. I have a couple of questions. When is the final report of the Tourism Futures group going to be released? That report talks about looking at new funding strategies. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has released a very good two-stage report suggesting a departure tax in the sector to raise revenue to help our Pacific neighbours adapt to climate change recognising the significant greenhouse emissions of long-haul tourism and providing for bands within that departure tax for shorter trips more for medium-distance trips and then for long-haul. What is the Minister's response to the recommendations of the parliamentary commissioner around a departure tax? In a speech he made recently about sustainable tourism and the reset for the industry he said I would like to see changes in pricing strategies across our public assets so that they become financially self-sustaining." And he referred to a closer look at the international visitor conservation and tourism levy (IVL) which prior to COVID did generate significant revenue both for conservation and for tourism infrastructure. In terms of the future what does this look at pricing assets mean? Is the Minister contemplating an increase in the IVL or is he suggesting that there should be charging for access to conservation land by international visitors? So there are quite a few questions there. I welcome a response.Hon STUART NASH (Minister of Tourism): Thank you Madam Chair. I must acknowledge the Hon Eugenie Sage as a former Minister of Conservation. We worked very closely together and I think she did a fantastic job. I will try and answer all your questions. One thing I did announce on Thursday was an industry transformation plan and $10 million for that. The industry transformation plan will see the Government work in participation with the tourism sector with iwi with local government and with a whole lot of other key stakeholders. This will build on a number of plans and proposals that have been brought to me and that does include the report by the Parliamentary Commissioner of the Environment which I thought was a very well written and reasoned report. The Tourism Futures Taskforce—as the member rightly outlines I received a draft report but what I did say to them is "Please don't do any more work on a final report" because we had a plan at that time to morph this into an industry transformation plan which will in fact see a lot of their work as well as the other work that's been done by the Climate Change Commission etc. etc. Now it will be a lot more targeted. So what the member will find is that the industry transformation plan will take all that great work that has been done in the tourism ecosystem and target it a lot more towards where we need to be.In terms of a departure tax I think I've been quite clear on this. A departure tax is not on the work programme for the tourism sector at all. The Prime Minister was very very clear when we campaigned that there will be no new taxes in this Government and that does include a departure tax but also in case I pre-empt anything it does not include a fare tax either. So I'm not looking a fare tax or a departure tax.In terms of differential pricing again I've been quite clear on this. Those of us who have travelled overseas will often go to places where there is one price for locals or people from the country and one price for international tourists and I have no problem with that strategy at all. In fact we do it in a couple of places. My understanding is it's done on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. I have no problem with this and I would like to see a level of differential pricing right across the tourism sector that recognises that a lot of these attractions and tourism experiences should be available and open to Kiwis but international tourists who travel half way around the world will be prepared to pay to see these fantastic attractions. I have always believed that a lot of the attractions we've got here we actually undervalue. In terms of charging for the Department of Conservation (DOC) estate I have been very clear on this. It is the right of every Kiwi to have free access to the DOC estate and our national parks but that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at and investigate innovative ways to perhaps charge international tourists to come and have a look at iconic New Zealand.So that is work that will obviously have to be done in conjunction with myself and the new Minister of Conservation. I'm keen to look at that. I've actually been quite open about the international visitor conservation and tourism levy (IVL). As the former Minister knows it was $35 for everyone and it excluded Australia and the Pacific Islands and there are a couple of other minor exclusions. It was designed to raise about $75 million split between tourism and DOC. I am looking at that—at the IVL—to see if perhaps we need to revise that in light of what's happened globally and in light of the fact that I have the view that in some places in this country tourism was losing its social licence to operate. The example I used on Thursday was that there were 870000 tourists in Milford Sound in the year to date before COVID and if you talk to anyone that has gone there certainly any Kiwis they believe we believe and I certainly believe that in fact there were too many people in Milford Sound and it took away from the experience that a whole lot of people had travelled thousands of miles be they Kiwis or international tourists to see.So we are looking at quite an ambitious work programme but one thing I have again been very clear on is that of all the strategies we're putting in place one of them is that tourism can't go back to where it was pre-COVID. Hence my focus on quite a clear work programme going forward."