Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want, in the adjournment debate tonight, to pay tribute to the participants and members of three industries that I have the honour of representing as the who are nothing short of amazing and resilient people in the face of the devastation of the bushfires that we've experienced this summer, but also coupled with the impacts of the subsequent outbreak of the coronavirus.

Since New Year's Eve, since the fires have been at their worst and, of course, since the outbreak of the coronavirus, I have spent a great deal of time working with stakeholders from all three of these sectors—understanding from them exactly how much these two sets of events have impacted on their industries, the people that work in those industries and the communities that they support, and also to understand from them how the Morrison government can support them to make sure that these industries, which are so critical to the economies of regional communities across this country, can be sustained into the future.

Starting with forestry, as has already been noted in debates that have taken place in this chamber today, the forestry industry was hit so terribly hard by these bushfires this summer. In the state of New South Wales, if you look at the area around Tumut and Tumbarumba, 58,000 hectares of forest resources have been burnt as a result of these bushfires. That's around 40 per cent—nearly half—of the harvestable resources in those areas that have been impacted by fires. That is going to have a lasting impact for this industry. In Tumut, a community which is a forestry town, with a population of around 7,000 or 8,000 people, 5,000 people directly or indirectly depend on that industry for their employment. So the support that's going to be provided by the government through the loans that are available to small businesses and the grant programs to both primary industry entities and small businesses are going to go a long way. There will be more to be announced in the future to support these sectors, to make sure they can continue to grow. We had a bushfire round table here in Parliament House last Thursday. There were around 40 people who attended. We've got some great ideas, and I look forward to working with the industry to make sure it remains vibrant, resilient and—unlike what some, particularly the Australian Greens, wish for—a strong part of our community and our economy into the future.

It is similar with the fisheries sector. Of course there were immediate impacts felt as a result of the bushfires, with infrastructure impacts such as transport routes impacting on capacity to get freight out of communities where fishing occurs and to get product to market. Of course there were power cuts as well, preventing the capacity to store fresh produce, particularly seafood, for periods of time before it is distributed. This was then coupled with coronavirus. When it rains, it pours, as they say. One example is the Tasmanian southern rock lobster industry. It is quite a lucrative industry, but one that is very trade exposed to China—95 per cent of that product is sent to China for consumption. When China closed their borders to items such as southern rock lobster, that had a devastating impact on that one fishery, and that is just one of many. With the number of jobs impacted, we need to be able to support as best we can the people who depend on the fisheries industries for employment in these regional communities. I note that Senator Urquhart and Senator Ciccone are great supporters of this industry, as they are of the forestry sector as well. I'm pleased that they agree with me on how important it is to support these sectors.

Tourism is a sector that has had a double hit of epic proportions, particularly in the regions. First, there were people overseas seeing Australia on fire and choosing not to make bookings to visit Australia and spend their time and money here. That was bad enough, but with coronavirus affecting our Asian markets the way it has this double whammy has had a significant impact on small, medium and even large tourism entities right across the country. The $76 million package that was announced by the tourism minister, Simon Birmingham, and me just a few weeks back will go a long way to helping these industries and making sure they can survive the onslaught that comes out of these disasters. With international marketing to let people know we're open for business and domestic marketing to convince people that they need to holiday here this year, plus the regional events and attractions program, I hope we see great things happen across our community, particularly in the tourism, fisheries and forestry sectors.