Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that supports like JobSaver and disaster payments have ended at a time when the economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions will continue to impact a number of sectors for at least six to 12 months after the lifting of restrictions, including:

(a) the business events sector, which has lost $29.4 billion in revenue from 96 per cent of all events being cancelled for 2020;

(b) the mass participation sporting events sector which lost over 80 per cent of events over the past two years, causing a loss of over $5 billion to the Australian economy;

(c) travel agents, which have been in effective lockdown for over 600 days and will not be back to full capacity until after March 2022; and

(d) seasonal specific retail such as winter apparel and sporting stores who will need to wait six months for the next season and do not have savings to purchase stock; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) work with state and territory governments to implement targeted economic supports for specific industries including travel, business events, mass participation sporting events and seasonal retail, such as:

(i) providing ongoing business income support, including for supporting supplier businesses;

(ii) underwriting cancellation insurance for events and travel to provide planning confidence and accelerate recovery of sectors; and

(iii) providing economic incentives, including tax rebates, for events to be organised and booked in advance; and

(b) recognise the profound impact of COVID-19 restrictions on these sectors and their contribution to the Australian economy with benefits for trade, tourism and investment.

This motion concerns the fate of several industries as we enter yet another phase of this pandemic. Australia is the lucky country, and, during this pandemic, most were shielded from devastating recession. Our support payments worked. But a third wave of lockdowns across the economy in the third quarter has brought many businesses to their knees, and we need to tell their story and make sure the government is focused on their needs.

Businesses in Warringah, like in other electorates, have been hit hard by the pandemic and the lockdowns. Sectors like events, tourism and seasonal retail were the first into lockdown and the last out. On top of this, the third wave has hammered them and now, because of the influx of the omicron variant, confidence is going fast. There is concern for this sector, which are long-pipeline industries. People are uncertain and will not book events, overseas or domestic travel while this variant is hanging over their heads. There is uncertainty, and the government needs to recognise the impact of uncertainty on the recovery for these sectors.

These sectors have enjoyed some support in the form of JobKeeper, JobSaver, disaster payments and grants but, unfortunately, these supports have ended in circumstances where these industries don't just snap back into operation. Many, especially seasonal industries, have six to twelve months before they will be back to operating circumstances, and that is not recognised. These businesses were hoping that things were going to start to pick up, but they are now being hammered with that lack of confidence.

For example, in Warringah, over 18 travel agents have been without bookings for months and months. They have approximately 10 per cent of the revenue that they had pre COVID. For them, the current challenge is to survive into the new year. Other challenges pale next to this one. It is about survival—keeping these businesses going. Some have bookings, for example, in March next year. With the withdrawal of support and with open borders—state and international—they were hoping things were going to get better. But, unfortunately, these sectors still need some support. Australia's confidence to travel again is not yet there.

There isn't certainty, especially when it comes to booking events. Large hotels are relying on conferences being able to be booked. These things don't get booked a week out; they get booked months in advance. Seasonal retail like the snow industry is struggling. They will need to wait it out till the next season, which is next June or July. Boot fitters and winter clothing and ski shops usually outfit many Australians to go to the snow over the winter months. They've lost two seasons in a row and the international season in the middle. They have simply no revenue whatsoever. Some of the resorts are struggling to stay afloat because they simply have not been able to operate because of the restrictions. These are not the ordinary retail sectors that can snap back as soon as you lift restrictions. They need to wait till the following season. We need to restore confidence and optimism so that these sectors can survive until they are next able to operate.

This is where the Commonwealth can and should step in. I've written to and met with the Treasurer on the issue. While I understand the concern about spending, we can be fiscally disciplined and responsible and still keep these sectors afloat. The large outlays we have already committed will be for nothing if we just let these sectors fall over with these later strains. But, also, we should not think that the lifting of restrictions somehow means an immediate return to trading condition. For certain sectors it just doesn't, so a one-size-fits-all solution simply doesn't work. There are some ways in which we could turbocharge these sectors and the recovery. We could have sensible policies to assist businesses, like ongoing income support for businesses and their suppliers for up to six months when they are in an industry that can't simply reopen. We could have an event-underwriting or insurance scheme against more closures and more strains, to provide the confidence to go ahead with bookings. We could provide tax rebates for travel events and seasonal retail to stimulate demand. At the moment, there is barely the confidence, and, as soon as there is talk of more border shutdowns or more variants, that confidence just evaporates. So I urge the government to consider the specific needs of these sectors.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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

I thank the member for Warringah for moving this motion, as it gives us all the opportunity to talk about Australia's recovery from the COVID pandemic and the ongoing recovery efforts. The member for Warringah is quite right when she says that Australia has done a remarkable job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on measures relative to the rest of the world. But it's Australians who have done the heavy lifting. This wasn't just luck. They have rallied significantly. They have followed directions and requests to get the jab and to take other measures. It wasn't just fate. It was this government moving swiftly to put in place support measures that helped them get through the early lockdowns and uncertainty of the pandemic and then allowed us to get through the further lockdowns of the last 18 months.

JobKeeper and JobSeeker have been lifelines for Australian businesses. I was reflecting earlier on in this place about the practical impact that they had had in seats like Ryan, at popular pubs like the very famous Regatta Hotel, particularly for young people, who tend to work in hospitality establishments. For them, having JobKeeper there was an absolute lifeline. We've seen the results of that. We have seen youth unemployment drop significantly. The RBA is forecasting economic growth at 5.5 per cent next year as well as for the unemployment rate to be sustained at five per cent for the first time in 50 years. Three hundred and fifty thousand jobs have been created since the start of September. We were the only nation, of comparable economies, to be able to say that we had more jobs after the pandemic than we did at the start. That's because, at all stages, the government has moved swiftly to put in place support packages as needed.

I agree with the member for Warringah that businesses do need certainty, and that certainty is the most important thing in helping them plan for the economic recovery. But the remarks she has made today, and that the Labor Party are making today, are trying to stoke fear of new variants. She's trying to jump a couple of steps ahead before we truly understand whether this new variant is going to lead to lockdowns or anything like that. We are in a different position now. We do have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world because of the vaccination program this government has been able to roll out and because Australians have been willing to roll up their sleeves. That gives us the opportunity to provide more certainty for businesses that rolling lockdowns aren't going to be required.

The other way we can provide certainty is to, again, reinforce with the state governments that the agreements they made as part of the national plan, to open up their borders when certain vaccine benchmarks are reached—they have now well and truly been reached—are stuck to. That's what will help the travel industry more than anything else that the member for Warringah has specifically raised. It gives Australians the ability to make plans without concerns that they might change at a moment's notice because of a border closure or of new quarantine requirements.

Although nothing can be exactly certain, if we have premiers out there—Liberal and Labor; I'm from Queensland, so I know the example of the Queensland Labor government best. If we had our Labor Premier in Queensland reinforcing that she will meet the national plan requirements that she has agreed to and that the border will definitely be reopened at 80 per cent vaccination rate in our state, then the tourism industry that Queensland is so heavily reliant on—people travelling from the southern states, which the Queensland tourism industry is so heavily reliant on—can have more confidence than they have at the moment. We have a planned reopening date, on the 17th, but already today, with the new variant, we've seen the Labor state government start to equivocate on that.

We will continue to ask state premiers of all political sides to stick with the national plan as we continue to support Australians into apprenticeships, into jobs and into new homes through programs like the HomeBuilder scheme that has been so successful. We will be nimble and quick as support is required, as we have always been throughout the pandemic.

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

Last year the New South Wales and Victorian border was closed for 137 excruciatingly long days for small business. On the Victorian side, Wodonga locked down for 167 days; on the New South Wales side, Albury locked down for 73 days. You don't need a calculator to see that the impact on the Victorian side was disproportionate. Wodonga was locked down twice as much as Albury. That's the simple truth. The latest modelling shows the border lost over half a billion dollars in economic activity last year. Most of that downturn was on the Victorian side of the border. Tourism businesses were particularly hard hit, with spending in the Victorian High Country dropping a whopping 50 per cent, and the member for Warringah has just pointed out the impact on alpine areas such as mine as well. There were also many weeks this year when Albury was locked down but Wodonga was not. As one community, we rely on each other to keep our economy going. When Albury locks down, businesses on the Victorian side suffer too. Imagine being able to shop and dine on one side of Collins Street in Melbourne, but not the other. That's what we've been dealing with.

The New South Wales government understands these unique impacts on borders. Last week, the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Paul Toole, announced a $10 million COVID recovery package to help border towns get back on their feet, including grants of up to $25,000 for local stimulus-geared infrastructure projects. That's exactly what border communities have been calling for. As the Deputy Premier put it himself, 'Border communities have faced some of the biggest challenges in the state's history over the last few years—from droughts, to fires, to floods, and the additional burden of border closures.' How refreshing to hear that!

A few months ago I called our federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, and asked him to pick up the phone to the Victorian Treasurer, Tim Pallas, and sort out a dedicated economic package for businesses on the border in Victoria. He rejected my argument for support for these Victorian border businesses, and yet the federal Treasurer managed to do it with the Queensland government in September. Together, the Queensland and Commonwealth governments funded four payments to small tourism operators on the border: (1) a $5,000 statewide small-business payment; (2) a $10,00 South-East Queensland lockdown payment; (3) a $5,000 extended border closure payment, and (4) a $15,000 tourism sector payment—that's $35,000 in one-off grants that particularly targeted border communities.

What if you were an identical small tourism operator in Wodonga? You had to choose between either a $2,800 per week payment which was statewide, or a one-off $20,000 small-business COVID hardship payment which was also statewide. If a small tourism operator in Wodonga took up the latter, they were straightaway $15,000 worse off than an identical business in Coolangatta even though they were locked down more than double the amount of time. I'm not begrudging the financial support offered in Queensland. They did it tough, too, but on the border in Victoria we have done it incredibly tough and all we want is to be treated equally.

I've been speaking to businesses on the border every day for months now, and many tell me they're barely hanging on. Just last week I met with Zak Rogers, who owns CrossFit TMA in Wodonga. He told me how painful it was for him to hear from his regular clients in Albury that they could not travel across the border to the gym. I admire Zak; he's got incredible integrity as a small-business owner. He called his clients in Albury and offered to suspend their gym memberships, because they couldn't cross the border.

Zak knew this would damage his bottom line at a time when his business was just holding on, but he couldn't stomach taking money from clients who couldn't use his services. In his heart he wanted to see people working out and keeping their mental health strong during a difficult time, and his clients showed their love for him in return: they declined his offer to suspend memberships because they knew he was doing it tough with border closures. What a powerful example of our border community coming together to support each other to keep small business alive when the government chose to look the other way.

I call on the government right now who are talking up grand plans for economic recovery: if you can't show up for border businesses in their darkest hours, how can we trust you to show up in recovery? I call on the Treasurer to work with the Premier of Victoria to deliver immediately $15,000 grants to small businesses on the border in Wodonga and show you are serious about treating all border businesses in exactly the same way.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the outset I will point out to the member for Indi that this government and our Treasurer never, ever turned his back on any business and indeed the support that we have given right throughout the 20 months—

I'll take that interjection in a tick—of this coronavirus pandemic has been extraordinary. It's been on the back of the fact that, when the virus first came to these shores, the economy was in a strong position: unemployment was down; the number of job opportunities was up; business was looking to the future with confidence; all the retail sectors were very optimistic; and things looked bright and rosy. That was despite the bushfires, despite the drought—and I don't often hear a word about the drought from those opposite; I don't often hear it from the member for Warringah. The drought was crippling to rural and regional Australia. The drought took a heavy toll, as did the bushfires, and then of course along came the virus.

I heard the member for Kingsford Smith say, 'What about the travel agents?' Well, we looked after them too. And, Mr Deputy Speaker Chester, you will know that certainly in the National Party room that was a big topic for discussion. Many of those travel agents are women, operating their own small businesses, often at home—even before the virus, even before people had to work from home—because that's what suited them. We have looked after them, in conjunction of course in a coalition government with the Liberal Party, and made sure that they have been able to continue to operate.

The member for Warringah talks about the business sector in her motion. Yes, the business sector has lost a lot of money. But, right throughout the world, many businesses have actually gone bankrupt. They've gone absolutely broke. Through JobKeeper, and JobSaver support from the state government, we've been able to nurture those businesses and nurse them through the bleakest of times.

She notes 'the mass participation sporting events sector which lost over 80 per cent of events over the past two years, causing a loss of over $5 billion to the Australian economy'. Yes, I agree, it's been very hard, particularly on people who like to watch and participate in sport. But let's talk about community sport as well. My football and netball competitions in the Riverina got up to their finals after a full season, and all of a sudden, because of a state government directive, even though in Wagga Wagga there hadn't been a coronavirus case for 13 months—too bad; there were to be no finals played. And it came as such a blow. It's not just about those sporting organisations that make money and are watched by a mass television audiences; it's also about the community sports in country areas that sometimes those metropolitan members forget. But did they whinge? Did they moan? Did they bleat? No, they just got on with it, because they knew that it was for the sake of the health of their communities and of their state. They said, 'We're prepared to miss out on our finals. We are prepared to, even though we've played all the minor rounds, all the home and away games. We'll go without the premiership deciders'—

'and we will do right by the community.' I can't hear what you're saying, so there's no need to keep trying to interject on me.

It's been very difficult for business. It's been very, very difficult for communities. I say to the member for Warringah that, whilst I appreciate that she's no doubt brought this motion to the House in good faith, there are supports out there that have been provided by the federal government to ensure that businesses and communities were able to get through this virus as best they could. And we've worked very hard with state governments. The national freight movement code was brought into being in a matter of hours, not days or weeks or months, because of the good relationship I have with the largely Labor state members. That's the sort of cooperative ability that we probably need more of around the national cabinet table. Once the federal election is out of the way and hopefully a Liberal-Nationals government is re-elected, then hopefully we will see some of the Labor premiers showing more cooperation and collaboration so that we can get through this together as a nation, as a collective of communities.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Republic) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Warringah for pointing out through this motion the deficiencies and the lack of support for certain industries in the government's COVID response. The thing that I have with the government's COVID response is that it reflects the ideology of the Liberal-National parties rather than support for Australians who need it. You need look no further than JobKeeper. It was poorly designed and it was paid to companies that did not qualify for the payments. Companies that were making record profits, that were issuing bonuses to their executives, that were handing out dividends to their shareholders were getting JobKeeper, whilst other Australians were lining up in the food queues because they were unlucky in that the company that they worked for didn't qualify for JobKeeper. There was an unevenness in the distribution of the funds and how they were allocated to particular Australian companies.

The issue of what industries got JobKeeper is also a deficiency. This government paid JobKeeper to casinos, but universities missed out. They supported gambling, but they didn't give education support through JobKeeper. It says everything about this government's philosophy in providing support for particular industries and, through that, for employees in those industries. The arts industry, which we know the L-NP has a philosophical objection to, of course missed out on JobKeeper support as well.

Now, I understand that they had to get it out the door quickly, that it needed to be done efficiently and quickly, and Labor supported that. But when the deficiencies and the problems in the scheme were identified—and they were, well and truly, within 12 months of the scheme becoming operational—the government had the opportunity to fix those problems, but they didn't. They didn't take that opportunity to amend the terms of eligibility and say: 'Look, if you're making profits then you don't need JobKeeper. We can use some of that money to pay some of the other companies that haven't qualified and whose employees are missing out.'

And there are still many businesses who are struggling to this day, as the economy begins to open up and we begin to recover. The motion moved by the member for Warringah points those out. There's the travel and tourism industry. I have been inundated by calls and emails from travel agents, who I have visited to hear their stories about how they have had to put off staff and how they haven't been able to trade because of government regulations associated with the closed borders. Many of them are still struggling to survive.

The arts and live performance industry has been smashed by COVID and yet, once again, many of those businesses didn't qualify for JobKeeper. And many of the employees who were working in casual occupations simply missed out and were forced onto the unemployment queues. They were struggling, joining the food queues just to live and survive.

One of the other industries was the amusement, leisure and recreation industry, and this motion points out about the insurance and public liability insurance issue that this particular industry is having at the moment. It's a big issue for a lot of businesses which work in that industry. We're talking about people who work in the show industry, sporting tourism, adventure tourism and the leisure and recreation industries. Many of them simply cannot get public liability insurance because of the tightening of the insurance market at the moment. Recently, in 2020, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman did an inquiry into the issues associated with insurance in this industry. The Australian Amusement, Leisure and Recreation Association submitted to that review that many members were facing closure and/or stranded assets due to the nonavailability of insurance.

The small business ombudsman has recommended that the government look at a discretionary mutual fund to address those insurance industry issues and the crisis that we have in the leisure and recreation industry. The way that the scheme would work is that there would be a government contribution of capital, as well as by the industry participants and businesses paying into it. That would entitle them to a certificate of protection and coverage for any public liability issues that come up in the future. Without something like this, I fear that this particular industry is going to be shut down and that thousands of businesses and employees are going to be out of work into the future. So it's something that the government must consider.

Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression. In April 2020 more than one million Australians lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero. Despite these considerable challenges, our economy remains strong, its fundamentals remain sound and it continues to provide remarkable resilience.

In March 2021, Australia became the first advanced economy to have more people in employment than prior to the pandemic. Between May 2020 and June 2021 more than a million jobs were created. The good news is that the economy is now set to recover strongly from the impact of the delta strain, with the Reserve Bank forecasting economic growth to increase to 5.5 per cent next year and the unemployment rate to be sustained at below five per cent for just the second time in 50 years.

According to Treasury analysis, 350,000 jobs have been created since the start of September as New South Wales and Victoria emerged from lockdowns. And, despite COVID-19, Australia's unemployment rate is still lower than when Labor left government in 2013. The strong bounce back has been supported by the Morrison government's economic plan, which has protected Australians in lockdown. Significant policy initiatives like JobKeeper; JobMaker Hiring Credit; the JobTrainer fund; the Supporting Apprenticeships and Trainees wage subsidy; the Boosting Apprenticeships Commencements wage subsidy; the Transition to Work program; Industry Training Hubs; and the Youth Jobs PaTH program have all contributed to cushioning the effect of the pandemic.

Our recovery plan will also ensure we continue to bounce back strongly as restrictions further ease. Our tax cuts have also seen more than $24 billion flow to 11.5 million Australians since the onset of the pandemic, with $10.2 billion flowing in the September quarter alone, equating to around $900 per person. This support has protected household and business balance sheets, with over $360 billion in private sector savings that weren't there prior to the pandemic. And just in time for the holiday season, too.

But some Australians and their businesses have suffered more than most. That's why our government is continuing to provide targeted support to regions and sectors that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. For example, our tourism and trade sectors have been particularly hard hit. That's why we have ongoing support for these critical industries, including $139.6 million for the Supporting Australia's Exhibiting Zoos and Aquariums Program, as well as various co-funding arrangements with state and territory governments for tourism sector programs in their jurisdictions. Also, in the arts and entertainment space, the Morrison government has announced that it will provide extra funding to two proven COVID-19 support measures for arts workers and arts companies, with an additional $20 million to go to Support Act and an additional $15 million to go to the Arts Sustainability Fund.

The Morrison Liberal government has provided unprecedented assistance to Australians and Australian businesses throughout the pandemic, and we will continue to back them in as we secure our economic recovery in 2022 and beyond.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Warringah for this motion and I want to acknowledge the member for Kingsford Smith, when he said that it showed the priorities of those opposite in the way that they handled this pandemic response, the economic response, particularly when it comes to JobKeeper. It's good example to use, where some companies, including foreign-owned ones, didn't need JobKeeper but got heaps of it whilst Australian small businesses went to the wall.

It's no secret that I think those economic supports were lifted too quickly by the federal government, and I spoke many times in this place saying exactly that. The vaccine hadn't rolled out yet and there wasn't enough dedicated quarantine around the country. It was much too early. And when those opposite cut JobKeeper back in March, I was also calling for targeted industry-specific support because we knew that the lockdowns would keep coming and that our community would continue to be affected for a long time to come. We also knew that those lockdowns would keep rolling, because those opposite totally failed to develop a national quarantine framework, as I said—with the exception of Howard Springs, a fantastic facility in the Top End. Well done to all those who've been working there. I had a two-week stay out there myself and they do an excellent job—but we needed more of that. We know that hotels are no good at containing a highly transmissible virus. Even now that we've been able to reach higher vaccination rates and there is some opening of the borders, we're faced with potentially a new variant and we're hoping that our hospitals won't be overwhelmed as people begin to move. But we know that industries continue to need our support, so it's a great initiative by the member for Warringah to bring forward this motion.

It's important to note that a number of sectors have copped huge losses and they'll take a while to get back on their feet—that's the reality of it. We saw this in my electorate, in Darwin and Palmerston, in the business events sector. They lost about $30 billion worth of revenue for events that were cancelled in 2020. One example in Darwin is that we were going to host the Developing Northern Australia Conference in August. Everything was ready to go, but the Territory went into a snap lockdown. I was trapped in the ACT lockdown at the time. I really want to commend the organisers of the Developing Northern Australia Conference because, with virtually no notice, they moved it almost totally online and hosted a virtual conference. They did a great job, but there's no denying there was a massive loss of revenue to our local hotels, our hospitality sector and local tourism operators, and so many, many Territorians and their businesses suffered as a result. That's just one event in the past almost two years that we've been battling this pandemic.

The Territory's tourism sector has suffered the worst. It's very seasonal, as honourable members would know, the dry season being the time when a lot of tourism businesses make the majority of their income. But who was locked out? Sydney and Melbourne markets, due to lockdowns. Why? Because hotel quarantine leaked. Why? Because they because there were no dedicated quarantine facilities in those places. For many of our tour operators, their ability to retain their workforces was greatly hindered. The dry season is when the majority of the workers come to the Territory, but, if they can't retain the workers over the wet, it becomes very difficult. How do you keep a business afloat and people employed in the face of such uncertainty? Our national arts sector has been completely smashed, largely unable to tour or to stage shows and having to deal with cancellations. Their workforce was mostly left out of JobKeeper support, so it's been devastating for that sector. The arts got many Australians through the long and dreary months of lockdown, so the least the federal government could do is to acknowledge workers in the arts sector and include them in support schemes. Tourism and the arts sector were very hard hit, and I don't have time to speak about the universities. But Charles Darwin University, through a lack of support, has also done it very hard. The federal government needs to do better.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and resumption of the debate is made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:23