George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have just heard from the squeaky voice of the union movement with all of the usual lies that we hear about foreign workers taking jobs in this country. What arrant nonsense we have just heard. They get up here and they tell us, 'This 417 visa is absolutely terrible.' But did they have it in the life of their government? Did they allow businesses to use it? Of course they did. We are talking about backpacker workers. These backpackers come in and they do work in industries such as fruit picking, where the farmers find it near impossible to get Australian people to come in and work. Then, when they are not working, what do the backpackers do? They do similar to what they do in my area, where they go and fruit-pick in Bowen and then they go an hour down the road to Airlie Beach and they spend the rest of their time in bars, on the sea on adventure cruises and that sort of thing—actually pouring money into the tourism industry.

This nonsense about backpackers taking Australian jobs is complete and utter nonsense. If the Labor Party want to come to this chamber and say they are going to end it, then get up and actually say that. Get up and say that, because you will have a farming movement that will breathe down your necks about where they are going to get the labour from to actually pick the fruit off the trees and pick the vegetables out of the ground. More importantly, you will have the tourism industry breathing down your neck as well about where the extra dollars are going to come from if these backpackers are not coming to Australia.

The Whitsundays, which is a collection of 74 islands—parts of the Great Barrier Reef and adjacent coastline in my electorate—offers some of the most iconic tourism opportunities in Australia that those backpackers come to see. There is the reef, teeming with marine life; the islands; the dense rainforest; wildlife; and the white sands of Whitehaven Beach, this year ranked by TripAdvisor as the ninth-best beach in the world. What the Whitsundays has to offer can compete with the world's best and attracts visitors from around the world.

But the potential for growth in our tourism industry is enormous. Domestic tourism in the Whitsundays last year saw half a million visitors, and only a third came from outside of Queensland. International tourism in the Whitsundays last year brought another 189,000 visitors, spending a combined 1.3 million nights, mostly from the UK and Germany. While UK visitors have declined 21 per cent from the previous year, there is strong growth from France and Canada. The looming growth for the international holiday market is from China, with visitor numbers to the Whitsundays rising almost 70 per cent, from a very low base. While the Whitsundays offers a world-class destination, it attracts just a nine per cent share of total visitors to Queensland.

The government has recognised the potential of places like the Whitsundays and has outlined plans for tourism growth in the northern Australia white paper.    We have put forward actions for targeting that growth, including $13.6 million to extend management advice and other business support services to northern tourism businesses, under the Entrepreneurs' Program, extending similar services to around 500 businesses in the North by lowering the minimum turnover and operating expenditure threshold to $750,000. We have cut red tape on things like souvenirs and exports of low-risk species. We are looking at options to streamline and expedite processing and extend the length of CITES permits for commercial trade in low-risk industries, such as the crocodile industry. We are expanding the working holiday maker visa program to allow participants to work for longer in high-demand areas in northern Australia—like fruit picking, where Australians just simply do not want to do the work—with a small number allowed a second year on their visa if they work in agriculture or tourism.

The white paper also identified direct flights into Cairns International Airport as a driver of industry growth in that region, and we have facilitated international flights at the Townsville. Airports in the Whitsundays and in Mackay are looking at similar ventures to open up more tourism as well as the export of product from the North. Water quality is also an issue in the Whitsundays, and we are doing work on that. We have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the Reef; $140 million to the Reef Trust, which is charged with innovative and targeted investment to improve water quality. We will get water quality improved in the Whitsundays. We are doing a lot to promote northern development and to create northern jobs for Australians and not just backpackers.

Debate adjourned.

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