Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I note that the member for Moncrieff is questioning the government’s commitment to assist these small- and medium-sized operators. I simply say that the shadow minister for tourism has clearly shown to the tourism industry in recent times that so far as he is concerned as the shadow minister for tourism there is no care or responsibility for the future prosperity of the tourism industry during this very difficult period.

I am also pleased to say that we are trying to assist the industry to make the transition into future market opportunities rather than maintaining an ongoing reliance on Japan. That is about the industry having a serious look at new markets such as India and China, and also trying to assist them in having a look at the quality of the product and the need for accreditation to lift standards to guarantee that they can compete in a tough global community.

I say in conclusion to the Australian community at large that the tourism industry at the moment is doing it exceptionally tough. The global financial crisis is not only having an impact on tropical North Queensland; it is also having a serious impact on the tourism industry Australia wide, as the member for North Sydney appreciates as the former minister for tourism. I therefore remind Australians at large that, with the holiday season fast approaching and the Australian government’s economic security package kicking in on 8 December, we as a community, if we are going to have a holiday, should seriously think about having a holiday here at home.

In that context I also remind Australian employers that it is their responsibility to actually assist in managing their workforce. I do not think it is acceptable that Australian workers presently have 129 million days of accrued leave, representing an estimated wage value of $29 billion. Tourism Australia is currently working with the business sector to try and encourage employers to support workers to actually take their accumulated annual leave and long service leave, to have a break here at home in Australia and assist all those hard-working small and medium sized tourism operators to survive the impact of the global financial crisis.

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