Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell says it’s time to officially extend the Great Ocean Road to the South Australian border.
Mrs Britnell said such a move would boost tourism for towns in South West Coast and allow for greater promotion of assets like Tower Hill, Budj Bim and the Great South West Walk.
She said it made sense for the Great Ocean Road to continue through Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Narrawong, Portland and through to Nelson.
“The entire South West Coast is home to some of the most spectacular coastline in the world – but it’s not officially part of the Great Ocean Road,” she said.
“The Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles delivers a huge economic boost to the state – bringing in more revenue than the Australian Open – but the problem is many people get to the Twelve Apostles and turn around.
“We need to be encouraging more people to travel further on and explore further along the coast – spreading the economic benefits further.”
Mrs Britnell said being able to showcase Cape Bridgewater, Tower Hill, Budj Bim, The Great South West Walk and the Lower Glenelg National Park as officially being on the Great Ocean Road would bring huge benefits.
“It would expose our incredible tourism assets to an international audience and help encourage people to go beyond the Twelve Apostles and spend money right through the region,” she said.
“The Liberal Nationals at a State and Federal level are committed to growing tourism in South West Coast. We’ve seen the Prime Minister announce $58 million for the Great Ocean Road and it’s the Federal Liberal Government that has been driving the push to have Budj Bim included on the World Heritage Register.
“At a state level we have committed to marketing the Great South West Walk and working in conjunction with South Australia to develop the Great Southern Ocean Bike Trail – linking Adelaide and Melbourne to take advantage of the huge increases in cyclist based tourism.
“We understand the value of tourism, we know it is one of the key pillars of our local economy and we know we have to give visitors to this region a world class experience, so they go home and spread the word.”
