He said a new North East Victoria Tourism Board should examine the issue so that visitors will be better looked after in their quest to explore the life of the 19th century bandit.

“There needs to be more work done to work out what the visiting public gets out of the Ned Kelly story,” Cr Griffiths said.

“What do they want to see, what do they want to hear, what’s their background knowledge of Ned Kelly?

“Until we know how much information they have about Ned Kelly we’re working in the dark.”

Wangaratta Council has been fighting since 2002 to have a Ned Kelly tourism centre built at Glenrowan but a lack of government funding has seen it stalled.

Cr Griffiths hopes the new board will help lobby for the attraction which would tell the story of the Kelly Gang’s last stand.

The new board, which is advertising for a chief executive, is being partly funded by $30,000 contributions from Wangaratta, Indigo, Alpine, Mansfield, Benalla and Towong councils.

Indigo mayor Ali Pockley said the board would replace up to 20 to 30 different tourism entities and allow more opportunity to leverage funding.

Board chairman Paul Carrick said the organisation, which replaces North East Victoria Tourism headed by Susannah Doyle, would “provide strategic direction and cohesion” for the industry.

“It’s a case of evolution not revolution ... this will be the real umbrella group which will take in all the stakeholders,” Mr Carrick said.

The other board members — former Falls Creek Alpine Resort chief Ross Passalaqua, Eliza Brown of All Saints Estate, Rutherglen cycle tourism representative Clayton Neil, Beechworth Honey owner Jodie Goldsworthy and professional directors Jodie Leonard of Melbourne, and Anabel Shears-Carter of Wahgunyah — will also include council and alpine resort representatives.