Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by Senators Birmingham and Payne to the questions asked by myself and Senators Sheldon and Green.

I will say from the outset, from the response from Minister Payne to my question relating to funding and support for the tourism sector in regional Australia, we obviously touched some real nerves there. It's so disappointing when I look at my own home state of Tasmania, with 42,000 Tasmanians either directly or indirectly being employed and supported by the tourism sector, and there are no answers from this government in terms of the support and what's going to happen to these businesses when they turn off JobKeeper in March. It's 52 days away and they still cannot provide any answers as to their plan and their support for these many, many businesses that are under threat.

This sector is in crisis and it's not just us who are making this point. I want to turn to Tom Manwaring, Chair of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, who said, 'The tourism sector is in crisis and will be decimated if there is no further support from the federal government.' It's not just those on this side of the chamber that are seeking support and answers from this government.

Under the Regional Tourism Recovery Package Tasmania was supposed to receive $13.5 million to go to that sector. We couldn't get an answer today, four months after the announcement, four months after the photo opportunity. Yet again there's been no follow-up, no response today as to how much of that money has been rolled out. I have been talking on a regular basis to not only the tourism sector but the hospitality sector in my home state. They are in crisis. People's mental health as well as their businesses are facing this crisis, it seems, without real support from this government. In fact, the only time the minister really got excited, when she was trying to answer some of these questions that we've put to her today, was when we hit a nerve about the priority of this government—that is, they will pay for the ex-minister to fly around Europe with his own private doctor, they will spend money on advertising, but they're not prepared to give security to a very important sector in regional areas around this country.

It is not just in my home state, but I do want to talk about the effect on my home state. I'd like to know what we're going to tell the tourism sector in the regional towns of St Helens, Coles Bay, Strahan and Stanley and at our iconic sites like Cradle Mountain and the Freycinet National Park. What about the Port Arthur Historic Site, the Overland and MONA? These regional areas rely on tourism. They're the hook that gets people to travel to those destinations and to spend money to boost the local economy. It is about time that we saw some real leadership from the Prime Minister.

It was so disappointing today from a minister representing someone from that other place. You would think she would have at least some answers in relation to the regional tourism recovery package. Surely they would expect that, after four months, Tasmanian senators would be interested and would want to know. We have been contacted by the tourism sector, and we're reaching out to them to see what support is still needed. Even larger businesses are affected. The Federal Group, who operate in the hospitality and gaming industry and provide convention facilities, have empty convention centres. They are still having to maintain those businesses and their premises, without any plan for what will happen into the future with further lockdowns. Even the Premier of Tasmania today advised that, over the next 12 months, there will be further lockdowns. So where is the support and why isn't the Premier of Tasmania calling on this weak government to do more for Tasmania? (Time expired)