Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. There is no doubt, as the senator has alluded to and as any of us who live in and visit tourism-reliant areas of Australia know—that is, when we can go from state to state, of course—that tourism has taken a very significant impact from COVID-19. The former minister Minister Birmingham has worked very hard with the industry in terms of response and support from government, and we have seen a boost to domestic tourism over summer, especially in those regions within driving or other travel distance of major population centres. Those parts of the sector, though, that rely on international travel and tourism in particular do continue to face very difficult circumstances. So, from Minister Birmingham to Minister Tehan, the government has been engaging very closely with the tourism sector to understand how we are able to continue to assist while we wait for international tourism to return. We actively encourage Australians to engage in domestic tourism. We hope that there will be some opportunity, for example, out of travel bubbles, ultimately, to assist international tourism to return. So it is a very challenging time. There is no question about that. Through COVID-19, the government has provided record levels of economic support, through programs such as JobKeeper and small-business cash payments of up to $100,000, which have sustained hundreds of thousands of tourism businesses and jobs across Australia. As part of our plan to support tourism recovery, we're also providing further targeted assistance to help the tourism sector to rebound and to help save as many jobs as possible. That's in addition to our record funding for Tourism Australia of over $231 million in 2021. (Time expired)