Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. It is a bit ironic. Labor has absolutely no credibility when it comes to tourism—none whatsoever. What did they do when they had responsibility for tourism? They increased tourism taxes—a 45 per cent increase in the passenger charge. They introduced a carbon tax—$115 million, not much different to the $106 million that Qantas has had to incur under a Labor Party carbon tax. There was a 12 per cent reduction in profits because of the carbon tax to the tourism industry alone last year. They reduced funds for Tourism Australia. Our capacity to market effectively on international markets was reduced. The ability for Qantas to take advantage of international visitors was undermined by the Labor Party because they reduced the budget for Tourism Australia. They have also increased penalty rates, which has crippled so much of the tourism industry in Australia. Of the 412,000 jobs that were lost in small business, many have been in the tourism sector. Also they have strangled visa access—

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