Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great pleasure to be able to speak on this motion moved by the member for Menzies and also after the contributions of the member of Bennelong and the member for Clark. The experience that I have had as the member for Goldstein, as I'm sure many other members have throughout the past year, is of many constituents who, through no fault of their own, booked travel arrangements, flights, accommodation, operations, tours et cetera overseas, or even within Australia, but suddenly found their arrangements abruptly cut short as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly there have been issues around insurance and the pandemic exemptions, but also a lot of constituents are finding it very difficult to get refunds and/or even credits in some cases—or usable credits, I should say, more correctly—for bookings that have been made.

In particular, I'd like to reiterate the point the member for Clark raised. Firstly, travel agents often are the meat in the sandwich, for want of a better phrase, between the consumer and the travel operator and have been unfairly maligned. I have a lot of travel agents within the Goldstein electorate who do an excellent job every day in helping Australians realise their travel dreams, but they are often only the booking agents and, of course, take a fee, because that's how they have their business model running, but often are required to pay money internationally or domestically are the ones responsible for recouping that money in the time frame. It's particularly common when money goes overseas and people are making bookings in Australia for services overseas and recouping that money or, in the case of many tour arrangements where credit may be offered but they may expire within a time frame, as we're experiencing right now—for instance, a 12 month time frame, which means that people aren't able to use them, because of the continued closure of international borders.

So there's something that needs to be done in this space. I have spoken to the Chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims, in our economics committee hearings and asked him what he thinks needs to be done. He has actually made the comment that he doesn't believe a lot needs to be done. What we're seeing in the parliament is that that isn't enough or that isn't acceptable. There is an expectation that there has to be some sort of rebalancing to protect the rights of consumers and their choices and also make sure that they're not taken advantage of or, when their money is taken, there is a sense of responsibility that flows through with it. Many of the travel agents I speak to about constituents who complain about not being able to get their money back often are dependent on the actions of others. From this experience, there needs to be some sort of understanding, obligation and contractual arrangements into the future where travel agents expect obligations to flow through and to make sure that operators do the right thing by customers so they don't get left in the middle.

But I know, as many members will, that throughout the past 12 months many people have made these bookings and sought consumer protections on the simple basis of expecting either their money to be refunded or, as I said before, some sort of credit, and have found themselves either in Australia or overseas essentially giving up because the volume of money, while perhaps not being insignificant, actually is placing an emotional burden on themselves to try to recoup it. In many cases people, of course, even got those credits but are not able to use them.

So I think it's critically important that we look at consumer protection and have a proper analysis of what it means in a potential age of future pandemics but also around the general operation of consumer protections from disruption. I know this is a big issue for the insurance industry. This is not just because of general exemptions associated with pandemics but also because of other aligned issues like business interruption and the need to do so. Of course, the Morrison government has been very aware of the impact this is having on many small businesses, particularly around issues of cash flow when they're required to make reimbursements for people seeking to recoup their money. That's why we've provided support to the travel sector, whether it's directly to the providers or, in addition, to many of the travel agents. But that's really only to carry them over the bridge, as we used to call it; it doesn't solve the fundamental woes that sit at the heart of it. They have been stretched by trying to meet their obligations to consumers. We need proper and responsibilities placed on those who book services to make sure that actions are properly taken, but it does require review. It does require some form of inquiry to properly address.

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