Students threatening ABC show protest
Tourism boost a Thor thing
IT’S a thundering good effort – heartthrob Chris Hemsworth has delived more than $137.6 million in estimated advertising value for Australia since he began his role as an ambassador.
Along with wife actor Elsa Pataky, the star of Thor has generated 268 million social media page impressions to an audience of more than 11.9 million worldwide.
The Byron Bay-based superstar chooses not to live in Hollywood but works hard to extol the wonders of his native country.
The God of Thunder has been given an approval rating of more than 80 per cent in his role as Australia’s Global Tourism Ambassador.
The findings are part of the Mood of the Nation survey, which will be released at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) opening in Sydney today.
Not since Paul Hogan urged the Yanks to throw another shrimp on the barbie in the 1980s has Australia had such a high-profile tourism ambassador.
Tourism Australia officials are believed to be chuffed with the value-for-money of Hemsworth, who charged “mate’s rates” for his efforts, which have included TV voice-overs and appearances at tourism events on the Gold Coast, in southern states and overseas.
Federal Tourism Minister Steve Ciobo said it was no surprise Aussies and the world loved Chris Hemsworth.
“He’s a great ambassador for our country and tourism industry,” Mr Ciobo said.
“He’s doing Australia proud and helping attract more tourists Down Under.
“He has an incredible ability to sell Australia without even trying. His passion for his homeland is effortless and resonates with people from around the world.”
The survey also found 94 per cent of Australians believe international tourism is good for the country and 83 per cent are proud of how Australia is promoted. UNIVERSITY students have threatened to protest during filming of Q&A, amid claims they are not represented on this week’s post-Budget show.
The National Union of Students is calling for protesters to gather outside The Arts Centre Gold Coast, Bundall, from 8pm tonight, to coincide with filming of a special Budget debrief of the flagship ABC program.
The union claims students who hoped to be in the audience during the show had been “vetted” by the program.
In a statement, the union said: “ABC producers have implemented an extreme vetting process for audience participants, including stalking students’ Facebook profiles, threatening phone calls to student activists, and collusion with police, to ensure that show’s ‘democracy’ does not overstep what is palatable to Tony Jones.”
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham will be one of the panelists and he is expected to discuss the proposed changes to university fees flagged in last week’s Budget.
The union said it approached the ABC to have a representative placed on the panel but they were refused a spot. Instead, they claim, that spot went to Innes Willox from the CEO Australian Industry Group.