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

Quite frankly, when the government is in trouble, what does the Prime Minister do? He throws money around. As the previous contributor to this discussion said, $1.2 billion has been splashed around, but he can't even get that right. Is he really interested in saving jobs? Look at the destinations in Tasmania that have been picked for this investment: Burnie, Devonport and Launceston, which just happen to include two of the marginal seats held by Liberal members. Then there was the afterthought to include Hobart. But Tasmania's mighty tourism sector is at risk, and it's at risk because this government has no plan and it has refused to actually listen to the sector. Abolishing JobKeeper at the end of the month will have an impact on over a million workers, affecting workers not only in my home state but right across the country. Thousands of working families in Tasmania are going to be without jobs or will not be working enough hours. This investment in the airline industry, giving people half-price fares, is okay if you have a job. But, if you haven't got a job, it's of no benefit to you at all.

The Morrison government made an announcement on 27 September last year about the $50 million Recovery for Regional Tourism Fund to support nine tourism regions that had been hit hard by the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19, and Tasmania was allocated $13.5 million from this fund. Almost six months later, how much money has gone to the Tasmanian tourism industry? Not a cent. In fact, the applications for this grant don't even close until 30 September 2021. So once again Prime Minister Morrison is there for the photo opportunities and the big announcement, but there's no follow-up. Those in the struggling tourism sector in Tasmania are going to have to wait until at least 2022 before they see any of the $13.5 million for Tasmania. In the meantime, we know that travel agents are finding it extremely difficult, and this injection of funds won't help one travel agent, because they don't actually make money out of internal travel. Their money is made from bookings for international travel and cruises, so these half-price airfares are not going to be of any help whatsoever.

The government are doing what they do best, and that is policy on the run. With these cheap flights, it is clear to see that their transparent pork-barrelling in marginal seats with their latest scheme is a new low. It was only after lobbying and outrage from the sector that Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, was added to the destinations list. Hobart was there and then it was taken off before it was put back. We've had sports rorts, we've had community grants rorts and now we have the flights rort from this government, which just keeps digging itself into a deeper and deeper hole. The Australian people aren't silly. They see through this Prime Minister, a Prime Minister who has been left wanting over and over again. He thinks that throwing $1.2 billion at this scheme is going to get him a bump in polls. People will not forget that he has been left wanting on some of the most serious questions that this government has had to answer. (Time expired)