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

We have spent some time in the chamber discussing matters relating to tourism and the government's very serious interest in and commitment to the industry, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 impact on the industry. We've spoken about JobKeeper itself and the small business cash payments as well, which have sustained hundreds of thousands of tourism businesses and jobs across Australia. I think—and the feedback that I have heard in regional New South Wales is—that JobKeeper support has been extremely important for the industry during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are also, as I've said before, providing further targeted assistance to help the tourism sector rebound, to support as many jobs as possible. That is in addition to the record funding for Tourism Australia, which I've also spoken about before in the chamber. In terms of our plan to create jobs, to rebuild our economy—including the observations the Leader of the Government in the Senate made earlier in question time—that includes helping to secure the future of Australia's tourism industry. That's why we introduced the Recovery for Regional Tourism Fund, which is about boosting tourism in nine regions heavily reliant on international tourism. It's about delivering those tailored assistance measures to help tourism businesses pivot to the domestic market. Those applications are still open until 30 September. That is a current program. There is $100 million of funding earmarked for tourism infrastructure under the Building Better Regions Fund. That is about supporting the supply of new quality tourism infrastructure to drive that visitation in the regions. We are also providing, through the Regional Recovery Partnerships program, another $100 million of funding there. (Time expired)