VICTORIA’S ski industry is anxiously awaiting more details following the State Government’s announcement in March that it will abolish the current system of management boards at each alpine resort and place governance under a new, centralised entity.
The government said Alpine Resorts Victoria is to start work by July 2022, and is the result of “government reforms to make alpine boards more efficient”.
Created by merging Victoria’s four alpine resort management boards, Alpine Resorts Victoria will govern Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller, Mt Stirling, Lake Mountain and Mt Baw Baw resorts.
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, said the change follows consultation with a range of stakeholders, including industry, local government and the resort management boards.
“There is broad support for the creation of a single entity to ensure long term sustainability of the alpine industry and tourism while making sure the resorts are operating in a financially sustainable way,” Minister D’Ambrosio said.
“Alpine Resorts Victoria will support the alpine industry to build economic resilience and navigate the challenges of climate change, and recovery from bushfires and the pandemic.”
The government has said existing leases with Alpine Resort Management Boards will be transferred to the new Alpine Resorts Victoria with no changes to their terms and conditions.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is to take on the strategic policy functions of the former Alpine Resorts Coordinating Council.
Minister D’Ambrosio said a stakeholder reference group will also be established to “ensure key interests including industry representatives, Traditional Owners and local government have input in the transition to the new body”.
She said Traditional Owners and Aboriginal Victorians will be represented on the new Alpine Resorts Victoria board to ensure management decisions consider their significant local knowledge and enduring connection to Country.
The government said the alpine sector remains an important contributor to regional economies, with the resorts in winter alone collectively contributing nearly $1.1 billion to the Victorian economy, attracting one million visitors and sustaining nearly 10,000 jobs.
While the government remains enthusiastic about its reforms, questions are being asked about the practical functionality and individual governance of competing resorts, with some pundits remembering, with little fondness, when a centralised entity – the Alpine Resorts Commission – governed the resorts, only to make way for the decentralised governance now being forsaken.
Principles of the Alpine Management Reform from the Minister on the Department of Environment, Energy, Water and Planning website read:
Key commitments
• The government's objective is to create economic resilience and ensure the long–term sustainable future of Victoria's alpine resorts sector, recognising its importance to the state's visitor economy.
• A key principle will be ensuring the industry has a platform to directly communicate Alpine Resorts Victoria needs on strategic and operational directions for each resort.
• The government recognises the uniqueness of each of Victoria's alpine resorts and the relationships with visitors, local businesses, operators and traditional owners. The government is working hard to ensure a close connection remains between the governance of the resorts and businesses and operators at each location.
• A key principle will be ensuring local government and Alpine Resorts Victoria work together to enable regional local communities to flourish and enable unique opportunities to be developed.
• The composition of the Alpine Resorts Victoria board will ensure that traditional owner voices are heard at the board table.
• The government will maintain the number of frontline operational roles across the resorts and support staff to transition to the new entity. Where possible, leadership continuity will be maintained at the resorts during the transition.
• The next steps will be Local government, Traditional Owners, industry and other key stakeholders invited to participate in a stakeholder reference group that will meet to help shape the new entity and identify issues and solutions during the transition phase.
What do you think?
Mt Hotham/Falls Creek News is interested in your opinion about the government’s changes to alpine resort governance. Email your view, in 250 words or less, to jzeuschner@nemedia.com.au, including your contact details.