Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, the Service Economy and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I have questions for the Minister for Tourism. Would the minister please outline the economic impact and the modelling that he has undertaken with respect to the nearly $1 billion of new tourism taxes that the minister and his government have imposed on the tourism industry? Further, would the minister please outline the impact that he expects this nearly $1 billion of new tourism taxes will have on certain segments of the area with regard to, for example, the way in which the passenger movement charge is expected to impact on the tourism industry? Further, would the minister outline the way in which the additional revenue that will flow from the passenger movement charge will be spent and the benefits that that may have or may not have for the tourism industry?

I would also appreciate the minister outlining the impact that the luxury car tax will have on the tourism industry—how much revenue is anticipated to be raised through the introduction of the luxury car tax and what is the expected impact on those operators in the tourism industry that are operating vehicles and that rely on vehicles that will now be captured under the luxury car tax? Further, I would appreciate the Minister for Tourism outlining the way in which Tourism Australia is expected to be resourced in the future, given that it has been announced that 20 positions have been cut from Tourism Australia, and the impact that the loss of those 20 positions is likely to have on Tourism Australia’s ability to market Australia abroad. Further, can the tourism minister enlighten this side of the House as to which positions are likely to be removed from Tourism Australia following this reduction of 20 places from the industry?

I would also be interested in the tourism minister’s thoughts on the way in which that $4 million that has been allocated to the industry is going to be used to assist Queensland. In particular, I am interested to know why that $4 million was such a miserly amount, given the $1 billion of new tourism taxes that the Rudd Labor government has imposed on the industry. Further, I am interested to know whether that $4 million is quarantined specifically for Queensland or can be used more broadly across Australia and also whether any orders were specifically given by the tourism minister in respect of Tourism Australia directing them to spend that money in Queensland only or to use that money across the board.

Further, I would be interested to know the tourism minister’s response to the announced capacity cuts by Qantas airlines and what initiatives, if any, the tourism minister is taking in trying to entice airlines such as Japan based airlines or other airlines from Australia to retake routes from which Qantas and Jetstar have cut capacity service to the Japan-Cairns market. I would also be interested to know, following Qantas’s announcement today that they will be discontinuing their Dash 8 100 service, whether or not the minister will be providing additional funding to New South Wales and to Victoria, given that Mildura will lose its maintenance base following the cuts. Will there also be additional money flowing to assist the Newcastle region? If the minister could address those questions, I would be most grateful.

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