Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today as a member of the great state of Queensland because this issue is particularly important to my home state as we are, after all, a tourism state. We rely on both international and domestic tourism in key economies, particularly in Brisbane but also the Far North, in Cairns and Townsville and, of course, Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know well, on the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. I am proud that, as a member of the Morrison government, I can speak, as part of this motion, about the significant support we have given to Queenslanders during the COVID-19 pandemic and recession to save lives and to save livelihoods.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Proceedings suspended from 18:31 to 18 : 42

I was regaling the chamber with the significant support that the Morrison government has given to Queenslanders to save jobs and to save livelihoods, particularly in the tourism sector. Over the last 12 months, the Morrison government has provided more than $28.5 billion in economic support to Queensland businesses and households, including through programs like JobKeeper, which has helped significantly in the tourism industry, and other programs like HomeBuilder.

As the member for Newcastle, who moved this motion, rightly pointed out, JobKeeper has been a lifeline for many businesses, including travel agents, but not just travel agents, across a range of industries. In my own electorate of Ryan, more than 5,000 businesses used JobKeeper to keep their head above water. I spoke to one of the many business owners who used JobKeeper—their business is in Chapel Hill—and they said to me, 'It saved my bacon.'

I'm constantly speaking with local businesses that have now transitioned off JobKeeper and are thriving once again because of the economic recovery that is being led by the Morrison government. Across Queensland we've seen more than 560,000 workers come off JobKeeper since September. We're continuing to inject the support that is needed to continue our economic growth. Recently I met with Lloyd from Fresh Homes who, thanks to the HomeBuilder program, is having to put on more staff, both in my electorate but also in Townsville, where the demand for new builds is experiencing a significant uptick, mainly through first home buyers.

We know it's a tough time for tourism businesses and we are continually adapting our support as a government in order to provide the spending where it is needed. Last week we announced 800,000 half-price plane tickets to 13 key tourist locations that have been affected by the border closures, because we know that for every $4 spent on an airline ticket it means $10 spent at the destination. But this shouldn't be a solo effort—and this is the main point that I wanted to make in speaking to this motion—because it is up to all levels of government to aid the recovery, particularly in the regions where tourism is particularly vital.

Unfortunately, in my home state of Queensland, and in your home state, Deputy Speaker Wallace, that isn't what is happening. Not all levels of government are pitching in and putting their shoulder to the wheel to ensure the economic recovery happens. We've seen that our premier, Premier Palaszczuk, is happy, at a moment's notice, to shut down the borders for weeks, sometimes months, on end—sometimes for quite a while—when there have been only one or two COVID cases. She was happy to take the lead in the run-up to her election, using border controls as a political tool yet now, when those ramifications are starting to be really felt by the tourism industry, she is nowhere to be seen. She is not willing to stump up the support, not only to the federal government has that been surprising but to the other states—

Opposition members interjecting—

I hear the Labor members interjecting. Let's look at the facts. The Morrison government has delivered three times the amount of economic support of the state Labor government in Queensland. Okay, it is a different level of government, so I understand the Labor members want a different comparison. How about this: despite being in charge of Australia's tourism state, Premier Palaszczuk has delivered the lowest level of economic support of any other state or territory government—the lowest. So despite being willing to jump on border closures at a moment's notice, particularly for political purposes, she has watched all of those bookings, all that confidence seep away from the tourism industry because of the policies that she has put in place. She is delivering the lowest assistance as a percentage of state gross product of any state or territory in the whole of Australia. It is absolutely disgraceful. It's disgraceful behaviour and, now the impacts of her policies are being felt, she ducks for cover behind the federal government and tries to blame us. It is an absolute disgrace. If Labor really wants to help tourism operators, they will get on the phone to Premier Palaszczuk and get her to stump up as much cash as the other states.

See this speech in context