Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

This is very welcome news for our tourism industry, because it means group tours from China will soon be returning to Australia in great numbers. Based on the pre-pandemic trends, this means hundreds of thousands of additional visitors each year, who will collectively spend more than half a billion dollars each year in Australia. The Chinese government suspended the ADS scheme globally in late 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Until now, Australia had not been re-included in China's list of approved destinations—

I know you don't like this good news for Queensland, Senator Canavan, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Until now, Australia had not been re-included in China's approved list of destinations for a pilot resumption of the ADS. We welcome our inclusion, and we welcome Chinese group tour visitors back to Australia, including in Queensland, where you come from, Senator Canavan. China's inclusion of Australia in its ADS scheme—