Speech
Australian Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile
The Old Casino Site, Sydney, 2 August 1999
Speech by Minister for Trade The Hon Mark Vaile MP at the Launch of the Sydney
Media Centre
The Olympics - Australia Meets The World
(Check
Against Delivery)
Introduction
Jackie Kelly (Minister for Sport and Tourism and Minister Assisting The Prime Minister on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games); Michael Knight (NSW Minister for the Olympic Games); Sandra Nori (NSW Minister for Tourism And Small Business); ladies and gentlemen.
The successful staging of an international event of the scale and complexity of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games presents major challenges, but it also brings significant opportunities.
If we can rise to the challenges effectively, the rewards and opportunities can be very great, not least in those areas for which my Department has some responsibility. In particular, we need to consider Australia's international image and how we are perceived in terms of our trade and investment potential.
When I talk about "challenges", I do not just mean the hugely complex logistical task of ensuring the Olympic Games themselves run smoothly - although, of course, this is critically important.
It goes well beyond that. As I see it, one crucial question is how we Australians respond to and make the most of the unprecedented world attention which will increasingly be focused on Australia between now and the Olympic Games themselves.
The Commonwealth Government recognises the importance of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in terms of promoting Australia's international image and maximising business opportunities. The Government has accordingly committed significant resources towards the success of the Games.
We place a high priority on projecting an accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date image of Australia on the international stage.
It is critical that people in other countries know about our international trade competitiveness, our technological achievements, our sophistication and cultural diversity.
And this is not just about boosting our national ego!
Accurate perceptions about Australia and its capabilities can significantly advance Australia's political, trade, security and other interests - just as surely as inaccurate or outdated ones can impede them.
Publicity opportunities generated by the Olympic Games, if appropriately utilised, provide an excellent chance to promote images of modern Australia to a massive global audience, with consequent benefits in branding, awareness and changed perceptions.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is playing a lead role in the establishment of this new Sydney Media Centre in Darling Harbour.
The Centre will serve the needs of the several thousand international media representatives who are expected to be in Australia in the lead-up to and during the Olympic Games. There are already more than 200 foreign correspondents based in Sydney and many more will arrive in the next 14 months.
It is, in some ways, a logical extension of previous initiatives, including the establishment of the International Media Centre (IMC) in 1995 to facilitate accurate and comprehensive reporting of Australia by providing assistance to resident foreign correspondents and visiting overseas media representatives.
But this Sydney Media Centre will be able to provide facilities
and assistance not only for overseas media, but also for journalists
from regional areas Of New South Wales (and interstate) who come
to Sydney to prepare reports in the lead-up to the Games.
I am very pleased that the Sydney Media Centre is being developed
as a partnership between the Commonwealth and the NSW State Government.
I have no doubt that by working together, we will establish a
world class media resource centre to provide:
- international media representatives with a base from which they can carry out their work efficiently;
- a central "briefing" point from which media representatives can seek official comment from federal and state government agencies;
- and a platform for us to promote issues and subjects which we think deserve international interest.
The governments are being joined in this initiative by private sector partners. I am pleased to recognise today four of our major partners to date - - Telstra, Kodak, Air New Zealand and CSI.
The Federal Government is not just focusing on the media. The Australian Trade Commission, Austrade, has already launched several initiatives under the umbrella "Australia open for business" to help business achieve maximum and lasting benefits from the Olympic Games. These include:
- Business Club Australia, set up to establish linkages and introductions between Australian business and overseas buyers;
- Investment 2000 which makes contact with key international decision makers and brings them to Australia to show them the benefits of investing here; and
- Australian Sport International , which markets the Australian sports industry to the world.
I am confident that the Sydney Media Centre, which opens for business in July 2000, will play a major role in assisting visiting media representatives to report on Australia accurately and comprehensively.
It will help media representatives as they cover the Games of the new millennium. And that will help put the Olympics - and Australia - on the television screens, radios and daily newspapers of every person on the globe.