Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Australia's tourism sector is vital to a strong, growing economy;

(2) notes:

(a) that 2020 has seen an incredibly tough start to the year for tourism operators with devastating bushfires, an inevitable Coronavirus pandemic and a sluggish domestic economy;

(b) Australia is a tourism dependent economy with the Australian Bureau of Statistics noting a $60 billion contribution to gross domestic product; and

(c) 666,000 people worked in tourism in Australia in 2018-19;

(3) encourages Australians to support our local tourism operators and where possible holiday here, at home, in the best country in the world;

(4) commits Members of this House to work with members of the tourism industry and local operators and encourage the development of new tourism businesses and assets; and

(5) agrees that Australia is the best country in the world and a must visit country for any international tourist.

Australia's tourism industry has felt the full force and devastation of the coronavirus. Many businesses had already faced the pain of the bushfires, and the double whammy of those two things or even the coronavirus alone means there are many will never truly recover. There have been livelihoods ruined and those that do survive will take many years to get back to what they knew as normal. When it comes to the tourism industry, there definitely will be no snap back.

The Australian tourism sector generated $61 billion a year of GDP prior to the virus. That's 300,000 businesses, more than a million people employed directly and indirectly. One in 12 people in Australia owe their jobs to the tourism sector. In my home state of Western Australia, some 25,000 tourism businesses generate more than $10 billion for the economy and support more than 100,000 jobs. In my electorate alone, 4,970 people are directly employed by tourism, but the Western Australian Tourism Council tell me their survey shows that some 55 per cent of their staff have ceased working since the coronavirus hit, from some of our biggest hotels such as the Pan Pacific to boutique retailers like Kirrikin, who rely on international tourists to purchase their beautiful Indigenous clothing.

This sector has felt a whack. Sadly, that pain is not over. There are some businesses in my electorate that will not make it to Christmas. That is what they have told me that when I have gone around and talked to them. They say that this is tough and they need as much certainty as soon as possible. They know, because they have sold this country to the world, Australia is the best place in the world. It is a place we can't share with the rest of the world at the moment but, over time, we will once again want Australia to be that high-aspiration destination for international travellers. We don't know if it will be one year or years until our tourism market reopens but, whenever it does, let's make sure that we are well and truly the place that is at the top of everyone's must-visit list. As we wait for those international borders to reopen, and who knows exactly how long that will be, let's build some of the things that tourists want to see. Let's make sure we build light rail in Perth. Let's keep the progress going on high-speed rail on the East Coast. Let's look at what other attractions we might need to make this a family-friendly destination. I'm a big fan of building a Marvel World here in Australia, but there is a whole bunch of other, more pressing, issues which Infrastructure Australia has also identified—

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Commonsense ones too!

Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a lot of common sense in the Marvel universe; I'm sure it could help the coalition from time to time!

One of the other issues which Infrastructure Australia has identified as a national infrastructure priority is a national centre of Indigenous culture and history. We can progress these things so that when people do come to Australia again they are once again wowed by the engineering ingenuity and friendliness of the Australian people.

In the meantime, many of us are holidaying at home. Myself, Jess and Leo packed the Mazda 5 in July and went to Yallingup for a week. We took long walks and visited Sunflowers Animal Farm and Farmstay and a few wineries in the Margaret River region. Hundreds and thousands of Australians are holidaying at home right now, and it's providing essential support to our tourism sector. It can't survive without that domestic market right now.

But there are some sectors of that tourism industry that are hurting more than others. I too have met with a number of tourism and travel agency businesses in my electorate of Perth. The feedback that I get, universally, is that they want certainty and they want the federal government to realise properly that they are a unique sector in terms of the crisis our country currently faces. We haven't seen any additional funding for the tourism sector since March. Indeed, one travel agent wrote to me and put it in really clear terms: 'We're not like coffee shops, restaurants and pubs, where we could "reinvent ourselves" and start selling takeaway, or clothing stores, that can switch to online sales in the interim.' They sell travel, and with planes grounded and borders closed internationally they remain at a standstill.

There have been some glimmers of light, and I commend WA Premier, Mark McGowan, on his $14.4 million package of direct support for tourism businesses and the $150 million investment in infrastructure for WA's tourism industry. They need our support now and they're going to need it for a long time to come.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The north-east tourism industry, including in the renowned Alpine shire and Victorian high country, was heavily impacted by the summer bushfires. There were widespread closures, evacuations and direct fire damage. The ensuing pandemic and recurrent lockdowns have led to an extended period of economic change and uncertainty for tourism businesses operating across the region. These are businesses which account for 20 per cent of gross regional product and 25 per cent of employment.

In the six months to June 2020 the region lost up to 1.6 million visitors, approximately 95 per cent of the business-as-usual market. Visitor expenditure fell by between $400 million to $639 million in the same period and up to 6,390 jobs were disrupted or lost. These are devastating numbers for a region that prides itself on its innovative and high-potential tourism market. What the sector needs from the government right now is a dedicated stimulus investment in shovel-ready tourism infrastructure projects that can get underway right now, even in lockdown, and ready the region for a major revitalisation that fully captures the incoming domestic regional tourism boom.

For this to happen, Indi needs dedicated, accessible future-facing stimulus support to put us on the front foot. Last week, I published a budget submission which I prepared with the nine local government areas across Indi, from Towong to Murrindindi and everywhere in between. That submission contains $140 million in ready-to-go local tourism infrastructure projects that currently have no funding avenues available at all. The last Building Better Regions Fund round was exclusive to drought affected communities, and so projects in my electorate were locked out. While I have no issue whatsoever with a drought-specific round, I do take issue with a government which is unprepared to accept that the BBRF is no longer fit for purpose in this current environment and that we need broader, more accessible funding to pick up on our tourism projects.

In such an unpredictable year, this is something we can predict. We can predict a spike in demand for regional tourism like we've never seen before. And what better way to stimulate jobs, immediately, than with ready-to-go projects—projects like the $11.6 million requested for the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail enhancements project, which will usher in public art, landscaping, improved amenities options and new commercial opportunities right across the seven sections of the trail. This is a trail that has a pre-eminent reputation in the Southern Hemisphere.

There's the Prosecco Road development in the King Valley. The Australian prosecco market will triple in volume to around 34 million litres in the next 10 years. The King Valley has the potential to grow to nine million litres, with a wholesale value of $100 million by 2028. This project would see improvements to digital and road infrastructure, including the widening and upgrading of roads. The construction of new and improved playgrounds and cycle tracks and bespoke art installations are all things that would kickstart a regional arts sector that's been absolutely decimated over the past six months. This is a project that not only kickstarts tourism and arts but is a leg-up to our wine industry, which was hit for a six with smoke taint during the summer bushfires and is now under the shadow of trade restrictions from China.

If ever there was a time to invest in us, for us and with us, it is now. There are many more projects like these that would stimulate hundreds of jobs in my electorate. But, right now, our government is silent on economic stimulus that builds a future and makes us stronger in the tourism sector. I met with the tourism minister last week and showed him this list and pointed to the long list of closed funds that, essentially, mean that right now there's no money at all available, in a dedicated Commonwealth fund, to the regional tourism sector. I sincerely hope the tourism minister will secure the funds we need in the forthcoming budget. I don't want to see this government turn its back on our regions and simply hope that our tourism can limp its way along—because, frankly, it cannot.

Two years ago this government retired the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure Program, a fantastic scheme that drove tens of millions of dollars into regional tourism infrastructure on a dollar-for-dollar basis with states and territories. Where is this initiative now? Nowhere to be seen. The government might not see regional Australia—I do though. I call on the Treasurer to see regional Australia as well and put money into regional tourism in the next budget.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, member for Perth, for this motion recognising how important our tourism sector is—particularly in my electorate—for local spending, regional jobs and supporting our local families. There is no more beautiful a place than the New South Wales south coast. Sure, we've had our fair share of natural disasters of late—the worst imaginable bushfires, disaster declared floods and COVID—but we should never lose sight of why people come to our coast: for its natural beauty and to just get away. Who could resist the charm of Jervis Bay, Kiama, the Shoalhaven or the beautiful Eurobodalla?

Today I actually want to talk about the forgotten part of our talk on tourism: our travel agents. Over the last six months or so I have had so many travel agents contact me. I've also popped in and met with travel agents across my electorate to hear their story in person. It's fair to say the feeling amongst them is the same. Travel agents, like many people, have borne the brunt of these multiple disasters. In what is normally our busiest season—the summer—we had to turn our tourists away because of the bushfires. Multiple floods and COVID-19, which continues to haunt us today, have put more pressure on. Not only that, each of these disasters has added to the stress of travel agents, who needed to make sure their clients were safe, help them get information on evacuations, or help them get home from overseas or find alternatives. It's been tough.

When I met Bronwyn, a travel agent in Batemans Bay, she told me how she and her staff were spending much of their time refunding customers. I see travel agent staff working away diligently. I see travel agent owners doing everything they can to support their staff and customers but with little to no support, refund after refund that is absolutely needed but with little to no business income coming in. It is heartbreaking. One local travel agent explained to me that they were thankful for JobKeeper but the issue is, in most cases, there has been a 100 per cent decline in income. The money has just stopped.

With the federal government's plans to reduce the rate of JobKeeper, it will simply not sustain this industry which has been hit so hard. The truth is there is no targeted federal government support for travel agents. Travel agents from Kiama to Ulladulla and Batemans Bay tell me they feel forgotten, abandoned in their time of need.

People have been very creative during the COVID-19 crisis, adapting to the new challenges: many cafes and restaurants ramping up takeaways; manufacturers and small businesses turning to production of hand sanitiser or face masks to meet the growing demand. Business may be down 30 per cent or more, but there is a glimmer of hope. It is absolutely wonderful to see. But with international borders closed indefinitely, and many state ones as well, it is very difficult for travel agents to repurpose and gain income. One local travel agent who runs a very successful crafty international tours business relies 100 per cent on the international cruise and travel market. I listened to Joanne's heartbreaking story; she told me she wished her business hadn't been so successful, because now she has to undo each tour, bit by bit, and it is hard to take. How can the government abandon travel agents? Falling through the cracks seems to be a common theme of this government, with little care or concern. Why has the Prime Minister left travel agents out of targeted assistance?

When regional travel reopened in New South Wales, the Premier said, 'Now's the time to hop online and book a holiday.' Can you believe that? Travel agents told me it was insulting. How about encouraging people to book with a local travel agent instead and support local regional jobs? That's what we need. I encourage everyone in our community to do just that. Call in or phone your local travel agent and book a regional holiday; support local travel agents, staff and their families, local people who shop in our local stores and kids who attend our local schools and contribute in so many ways. My message for local travel agents is: 'I will not forget you. You are valued. You are doing valuable work. You are a valuable part of our community.' Prime Minister, it's about time you stepped up and helped our travel agents with targeted assistance. We don't need anyone else falling through the cracks.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by congratulating and thanking the member for Perth for putting this motion on the Notice Paper and for moving it today. It is an important motion about a sector of our economy that is vital to the livelihoods of so many hundreds of thousands of Australians and the businesses that they work for. I am delighted to support this motion because the tourism industry is very close to my heart. In fact, before I was elected to this place I spent five years working in the tourism industry, at the Tourism & Transport Forum as its deputy CEO.

I am extraordinarily aware of the contribution that the tourism sector—what we like to call, and it is a better descriptor, the visitor economy—makes to Australia's economic success. Tourism, in all its forms, represents the most incredibly diverse array of businesses and activities in our nation. Of course there are the high-profile businesses like our big airlines or big hotel chains or big travel agency companies. Often they are the most glamorous ones, but the reality is that 95 per cent of tourism is actually a small business operation. It's the mums and dads running a country motel or a caravan park. It's the young person who's working as a tour guide in a capital city. It is the Indigenous community that is providing what is such a uniquely Australian experience. It is all of these small bits of the jigsaw puzzle that go together to create that great and impressive picture, which is the Australian tourism experience.

Across our country, be it our biggest of cities or our smallest of towns, there is one thing that you can certainly find, and that is some form of tourism operation. I particularly want to recognise, as we've heard today, how important the tourism industry is for regional Australia. I also want to recognise the fact that tourism is vital to the prospects of young Australians, because not only are there so many people whose first casual job is in the tourism sector but also there are those who start there and who go on to have a whole career in tourism, a career that is just so important.

Finally, when I talk about the tourism sector I also want to recognise that tourism isn't just about Australia's economic prosperity. I passionately believe that every international tourist who visits our shores becomes one of our most effective ambassadors when they leave. We know from all of the great research that Tourism Australia does that so many people come to this country with high expectations and leave with those expectations not only met but also fulfilled in ways that they never expected. For example, if you ask virtually any prospective tourist in one of our source country markets, 'What is a reason for visiting Australia?' very few will nominate Australia's food experience, but if you ask a tourist when they're leaving Australia, 'What was the best part of your visit?' many will say that it was the food and wine experience they enjoyed while they were here.

Tourism is vital to this country, and, therefore, it has been so distressing to see the devastation that the coronavirus pandemic has caused for the sector. There are very few industries that have been hit as hard as tourism has been. That is self-evidently obvious when you're talking about an industry that relies on cross-border travel, be it intrastate or overseas. Like those who have spoken before me, many of us have experienced that in our own electorates. Just last week, through the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, I met with local travel agents. They have been devastated because travel agents rely on two things for their bread and butter: overseas travel and business travel. Sadly, domestic travel very rarely generates a huge amount of work for the travel agent business because most people feel as though they can do that for themselves, so supporting the tourism industry as we move forward is going to be vital.

The support that we've been able to wrap around those affected by coronavirus, like JobKeeper, has been a lifesaver. I've seen comments in the last couple of weeks from tourism industry leaders such as Margy Osmond at TTF or Peter Shelley at ATEC, and recently from Victorian tourism leaders, strongly supporting the government's decision to extend JobKeeper. There have been other measures we've taken: support for regional galleries, support for zoos, and support for so many other sectors of the economy that have a flow-on benefit for tourism. But what I do know is that when we get through this, when the borders do start to reopen, we're going to have to be there, backing the tourism industry with all of our might. We're going to need Tourism Australia to be focused on reopening those markets, establishing Australia as the fabulous place to come to that we know it is, because that will be so vital to our future prospects.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You can't move on the Bells Line of Road or the Great Western Highway some days, and villages in those areas are packed, but at other times they're dead, and businesses are feeling the fragility of it, knowing that at a moment's notice a hotspot declaration might close the entire area down. Any business that relies on people using public transport or on international visitors, like our hop-on hop-off Blue Mountains Explorer Bus, is still seeing nothing like normal levels. In speaking to tourism businesses in the electorate, from Mount Victoria, Megalong Valley and Blackheath in the west, down through both sides of the mountains and up to Colo Heights and St Albans, it's clear there is a real desire by people to get out and support our local businesses and for Sydneysiders to come and visit. But there's also a strong view that the job subsidy that the Morrison government didn't think was necessary until it finally did is helping them either ride the unpredictable waves of business in a COVID world, or is helping them hang in until the seas settle into something more normal—that's if they qualified—and they desperately want that support to continue at the level it's at.

Of course, for us, it came on the back of the worst bushfires we've seen, where peak summer trade evaporated, so most of the businesses have that double whammy. We had an extra one, of course: flood. We've had fire, flood and then COVID. Most tourism businesses think that the level of support needs to be maintained. If you talk to travel agents, their business has done nothing to turn things around. I think, when we're talking tourism, we should also acknowledge pilots, who are in a terribly precarious situation, and they certainly need support. Their industry needs to be maintained so that they're there when we're ready to get on a plane.

There's only so much we can do at a local level, but I've certainly helped get the word out to encourage people to holiday within the electorate, with the holiday-at-home campaign. This is a series of YouTube videos showcasing the lesser known gems of our region—the tearooms and wineries of the Megalong; the mum and dad businesses that dot the entire Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury; the hideaways and local produce of Colo; the history and wines of Ebenezer; the contrast of the bustling retail in Blackheath and the solitude of the bush; the sweep of the Macdonald River in St Albans; and original art in Wisemans—all wonderful things to go and explore. I will continue this series in coming weeks and months until confidence returns to the local tourism sector.

Of course, COVID and fires compel us to think big. Twenty years ago there was a plan for a Bilpin visitor centre to educate about the then brand new World Heritage declaration for the Great Blue Mountains. It didn't happen. A little over a year ago, some locals raised the possibility, to mark the 20th year of World Heritage, of reviving the plan. They met with the mayor and the council wrote to the New South Wales government about it, but not much has come back. Now is the time to be resurrecting this project. It is an opportunity to educate people who visit the Hawkesbury side of the World Heritage, about world heritage—what it is, how it's recovering from the fire, what tourists can do and shouldn't do, who it's first inhabitants were, and their history and spiritual connection and what local businesses offer—and it should provide much-needed facilities for tourists to have a comfort stop.

The bushfires highlight the need for the wider population of Sydney to have a greater understanding of the environment in which my community lives. Our tiny settlement is surrounded by 1.3 million hectares of unique native bush, home to a third of the world's eucalypt forests. This is a key reason that millions of people visit the region. Eighty per cent of this region was burnt by fires. Some of it's recovering fast; others not so. One thriving koala population is now estimated to be less than 10 koalas. There are suggestions that a revised plan of the Bilpin centre could include a base for scientists and National Park staff to support and study this fragile population.

Just as the museum and art gallery of the Northern Territory, in Darwin, provides an opportunity to understand what a cyclone is like, with its Cyclone Tracey exhibit, so could we give people a taste of the Gosper Mountain fire and the recovery. There is audio from the Rural Fire Service radio channels and there's video. There would be educators, firefighters and parks personnel much better placed than me to be able to create a safe experience for people. I see it as a school excursion destination, helping to shift volumes away from just weekend day trade. But it also needs to work for the community. Traffic at weekends is already a problem. This needs all three tiers of government to work together so that we can secure this funding for our local recovery.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been a few months since I visited a domestic airport. When I drove to Canberra last time—and it was a very long drive—on Sunday I was really quite surprised when I saw that our Adelaide Airport was bereft of crowds and car traffic. Such sights are a visual reminder of how COVID-19 has changed our visitor economy.

A Tourism Research Australia report released earlier this month provided some sobering statistics. Some 666,000 people worked directly in tourism in Australia in 2018-19 and another 370,000 people were employed indirectly. According to the ABS, the economy lost 21,000 tourism jobs between December last year and March this year largely due to the impact of the Black Summer bushfires, which also occurred in my electorate. Restrictions to contain the spread of COVID were introduced in March. Between mid-March and mid-May, the number of jobs in accommodation and hospitality fell by 27 per cent and the number of jobs in the arts and recreation sector fell by 19 per cent. In Mayo, more than 5,000 people are directly employed in tourism and many more are indirectly employed. Job losses of this magnitude affect hundreds of small businesses and families.

With international and interstate borders closed, Tourism Research Australia says interstate travel will lead to a slow recovery and regional centres within driving distance of cities are expected to recover first. Australia has a $151 billion a year visitor economy, in which $107 billion is spent by Australians in Australia on overnight travel and day trips. Mayo, which stretches from the hills around Adelaide, down the Fleurieu and over to Kangaroo Island is well located to lead the recovery in South Australia. The Hills and Fleurieu are on the doorstep of Adelaide, and more than 70 per cent of our visitors are day-trippers and those looking for a short stay.

My electorate is home to six of South Australia's 18 wine regions and we have a growing craft brewing and distillery industry. We also grow some of the best produce of the nations, and many savvy growers are offering boutique experiences connecting visitors with food and wine in beautiful locations. Throughout September the Hahndorf Handmade, Handcrafted, Handpicked festival is being held in and around the main street of Hahndorf to celebrate the artisan culture of the region. This will boost the tourism economy in our hills, which was significantly impacted by the Cudlee Creek bushfire. Even though it was 20 kilometres from Hahndorf, Hahndorf also endured the fallout of the bushfire and the COVID restrictions.

Kangaroo Island is facing an even greater challenge. Tourism Australia figures show that international visitor numbers in Kangaroo Island dropped by 55 per cent in the March quarter as a direct result of the bushfires. This is significant because nearly 30 per cent of KI tourists come from overseas, and 40 per cent are from interstate. Visitor numbers lifted after the state government #BookThemOut campaign to support bushfire ravaged regions, but then came COVID-19. I would like to commend the government for its JobKeeper program, which has assisted not only the tourism operators on Kangaroo Island but businesses right across my electorate and the region. During our winter break I made two trips to the island, where I caught up with several business owners who have encouraging news to share. Jeff and Val Howard from Dudley Wines told me last week they'd enjoyed one of their most profitable Julys in many years. July is still a very quiet time on Kangaroo Island, but it was a good July for them. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster for the winery businesses with the bushfires, then the #BookThemOut campaign and then the COVID restrictions. But business is picking up again.

I also dropped in to see Big Red and the team from KI Oysters. This business is optimistic about the future, and they are actually going to have oyster tasting in the water at American River—you can sit in the river and eat an oyster. In the heart of fireground I spent time with Fiona from the Western KI Caravan Park talking about the recovery of her fire ravaged business. I would urge any South Australian to go and book a holiday on the western part of Kangaroo Island. The regrowth is stunning to see and you will be warmly welcomed by Fiona. She has a can-do attitude, she really does. She is also looking at putting in accommodation for recovery workers who are going to come to the island.

Mayo has taken a significant hit because of the bushfires and COVID, and we can add drought to that mix. But our businesses in Mayo are open, our tourism businesses are open and despite the challenges of 2020 we're looking forward to welcoming South Australians to holiday across our region.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I would like to make a correction to a statement I made earlier regarding seven-year-old Parker. I made the statement that Parker, who is seven years old, had a heart transplant at the age of two and requires surgery. He doesn't require surgery; he requires ongoing cardiology monitoring and ongoing treatment.

Debate adjourned.