Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McGrath for his question. Senator McGrath is a passionate Queenslander with a passionate interest in the tourism industry. I thank Senator McGrath in particular for the many representations and the feedback that he's been providing to me in terms of the impact of the coronavirus especially and also the reputational impact in relation to bushfires on Queensland tourism businesses—as have so many coalition members.

The government, as is well known, has applied a $76 million step-up in terms of tourism funding. Many have commented that this, so far as they're aware, is the single largest additional investment made in Australian tourism by an Australian government, in terms of support for recovery during this time. In implementing this package, the government is seeking to activate increased domestic tourism through a $20 million campaign, and we are particularly working to help states and territories, who will receive the bulk of that $20 million funding. Matching money is on the table for those states and territories, so they step up and put in extra money and we put in extra money. Today we will also release guidelines for the regional grants program. The regional grants program is a $10 million component of the $76 million package specifically for fire affected communities. Those communities are in a position to be able to invest in regional events, in other promotional activities, and quickly secure grants under this program to lift and boost visitation especially during non-peak periods. Those non-peak periods are important to make sure that we lift and make up for the loss in visitation that has occurred and is occurring. We note that the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus have had a continual slowdown impact on many regions across Australia, including some of those fire affected regions. That's why it's important that we get the investment of this funding absolutely right.