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

It's a matter, of course, that Senator Green has raised in the chamber previously and I'm pleased to add to those responses I have provided in that context. In the last couple of weeks the tourism minister has had the opportunity—in fact, since his appointment, of course—to meet with many tourism operators, many peak bodies, to understand the impacts of the pandemic and what pathways to recovery might look like. Specifically in relation to Queensland, most recently the minister was able to visit regional Queensland. He participated in a series of roundtables and he met with tourism operators with small businesses, with representatives of local industry. One of the reasons for that is because members and senators of this side of the parliament believe it is important to meet directly with those business representatives and to hear that feedback in person.

For example, the minister held roundtables with exporters and with the tourism and aviation sector, which were hosted by Tourism Tropical North Queensland. He met with the CEO of the Star, with theme park CEOs on the Gold Coast as well and he participated in another meeting with Gold Coast tourism stakeholders. So he has had the opportunity to hear directly from those local tourist operators to understand how state border closures and the loss of international tourists particularly are impacting them. I think the minister has found that experience very valuable in terms of working so closely not only with the tourism sector in Queensland but also across Australia on a post-JobKeeper plan for tourism recovery.

As a result of those discussions and many other engagements, the government is very conscious that JobKeeper has supported a large portion of the tourism industry. And, in fact, I myself have heard the positive feedback from many operators about that support. (Time expired)