Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I question the minister with respect to his portfolio duties regarding tourism. Is the minister aware of the concept of inflation and the fact that the purchasing power of a dollar erodes over time? If the minister is aware of that concept, could the minister outline why funding to Tourism Australia under his stewardship has now fallen to its lowest level since 2003 in real terms? Would the minister also outline why he has provided absolutely no additional assistance to the tourism industry under the Long-Term Tourism Strategy—further, why in fact in real terms this year has the minister not supplemented the additional $9 million that was pulled forward from this year’s budget with new funds for this year? Additionally, would the minister also outline his government’s policy decision to impose $1¼ billion of new taxes on the tourism industry through predominantly the increase in the passenger movement charge as well as other ancillary charges?

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