Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] It's a pleasure to speak on this motion today. As many members have already said, I have heard through this pandemic of many consumers who were ready to take the trip of a lifetime when this pandemic hit and who since it hit have had to deal with the fact that that trip of a lifetime didn't come off and with the difficulties of refunds and cancellations that sometimes exist in this space. I have also spoken a lot with travel agents, who have dealt with the entire disruption of their business and who have worked so hard in so many cases to support people who had bookings with them and deal with a change that happened overnight through no fault of their own, through no decision that they made, where essentially their business has been turned on its head. So there is no doubt that, from both a consumer point of view and a travel agent point of view, COVID has upended the travel industry. It is entirely appropriate that, as members, we look at what that means for both travel agents and consumers and at how, hopefully coming out of this pandemic, we can build a system that works strongly for everyone.

I do know, from talking with travel agents in my electorate about what's been happening to them during this time, that many of them have gone through significant hardships, and I want to really thank them for their efforts and their stoicism and for the support they have given to consumers. The travel industry was not a system that was designed to work backwards, and I know that, in the days after shutdown, travel agents were desperately trying to work out what information they had, what advice they could follow, and what outcomes they could provide for consumers, and that has meant that consumers have had differing outcomes. It's been really stressful for consumers. As I said, many of them were looking forward to the trip of a lifetime. They'd spent a lot of time planning and had spent a lot of money, and they were left with no idea of how or exactly when they would get refunds.

As the pandemic went on, some of the confusion continued for both consumers and travel agents, and there were communication breakdowns and, in some cases, unfortunately, conflicting information. I think that's been really hard for consumers. There are many agents who acted with integrity and fairness and who have gone over and above to obtain refunds for their clients, in some cases refunding money from their own accounts. Other consumers have lost money or have been left frustrated, as I said, in being able to get clear information about what's happened and what their recourse in this situation is. I do know there are still people who are waiting for refunds and how hard that must be for all those people involved.

I want to particularly thank Linda and Darryl Wallace from Eltham North in my electorate, who came to me to share some of the frustrations and disappointments that they've had in this space. They were some of those people who'd booked the trip of a lifetime and who had spent a lot of time planning but who then not only had to give up that experience but felt they had to spend a lot of time looking at why they were refunded for some parts of their trip and not for other parts. They had to try, own their own, to figure out what had happened and where transactions were sitting. Their hope is very much that, going forward, there will be a system in place that resolves some of these issues. As we have heard from other members who have already spoken to this motion, a system in place that resolves some of these issues will hopefully be in the best interests of both consumers and travel agents. It means we rebuild a system that consumers feel confident to use and that travel agents feel doesn't provide them with a level of confusion that may be preventing them from doing their work at the moment.

So, while there are parts of this motion that, from a practical standpoint, would need to be worked through, such as the use of trust funds, I do support any motion that would assist travel agents and consumers. We know that this outbreak has challenged the industry like never before, and this is the opportunity for us to build back better to make sure there are consumer protections in place and that we support travel agents, who are desperate to see for positive outcomes for their clients. So I support this motion.

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