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

Before I start, I want to acknowledge the heartfelt words from Senator Griff on a matter which is very distressing. When I heard the news of Ms Smith's death I must say that I was particularly moved about the situation and the circumstances. I commend him for raising it in those terms here in this chamber. Thank you, Senator Griff.

Today I want to talk about Tasmania—something I'm very passionate about, representing it in this place. And I know that all of you would like to represent Tasmania, because it is the best part of our federation! And I know that Senator Green would agree with me on that. But I am particularly proud of Tasmanians for how they've conducted themselves throughout this health crisis which our country and our world have grappled with. Tasmanians, like everyone else in the country and everyone else in the world, have had to deal with the restrictions that come with trying to manage and suppress this virus so that we can get ready to deal with living with it, as we build up capacity for hospital admissions related to COVID and respiratory illnesses, boost our testing capacity and develop the app to trace contacts of those with confirmed infections.

Throughout this whole time, with all of the sacrifices made by households, businesses and communities, Tasmanians have conducted themselves in an honourable way. They have abided by the rules and we can see the downward trend in the number of infections in Tasmania, as we can in most other jurisdictions. The infection rate is plummeting, and I think all state and territory jurisdictions have done a commendable job in managing the restrictions and the health implications. But, while I commend Tasmanians for what they have done, that's not to say that it has been easy for them, particularly in small business. Businesses in the tourism and hospitality space that were thriving one day with full dining rooms and accommodation full to the brim, particularly in our peak season, were completely empty the next. As we know, restrictions were very, very tough, and they were brought into effect immediately.

As restrictions started to ease, one thing I was pleased to see—and it's probably the same right across the country—was Tasmanians helping one another out, particularly when it came to supporting Tasmanian small businesses, which was something that I took to doing. My small contribution in trying to help Tasmanian businesses was to give shout-outs to small-to-medium enterprises that needed the business. As restrictions started to ease, as cafes and restaurants could begin to trade again and as certain retail establishments were able to reopen, I thought it was a good opportunity to give a shout-out to some of these small businesses that employ a great many Tasmanians, particularly in regional communities where these jobs are needed.

I refer to businesses like the Rustic Bakehouse in the beautiful town of Cressy; Greenhill Nursery in Leslie Vale, which is a terrific establishment run by David Drysdale; Skippers in St Helens, which does a great job and a very good lunch; Whimsy Florist in Hobart; Frog's Bakery in Deloraine; and Not Just Books in Burnie. These are just a few of the businesses I have shouted out to. All of them are great contributors to their local economy and great employers who employ a great many Tasmanians. I commend them for what they're doing. I know they've done the best they can in the circumstances they face. I know that most of these businesses are very grateful for the support they've received throughout this time until they could open their doors again, including the cash stimulus packages, where applicable, and the JobKeeper support to keep their employees on the books and connected with the workplace. I commend all of the proprietors of these businesses, as well as the people who work in those businesses, for what they do.

Some of those businesses, of course, are our zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. In Tasmania, we have quite a few of these establishments. Like any other tourism or hospitality business, they struggled with the fact that they had to shut their doors immediately. And just because they shut their doors and had zero dollars coming through the gates it didn't mean that the costs stopped. That is why I was pleased to join with Greg Irons from Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary just outside Hobart to announce the $94½ million package to support our zoos, aquariums and wildlife sanctuaries and enable them to meet some of the fixed costs associated with running these very expensive entities. In Tasmania, we have around 160,000 visitors to our zoos and wildlife sanctuaries each year, so they are a significant contributor to our visitor economy. They are one of the premium tourism attractions in our state. As I said, there are eight: Bonorong Wildlife Century just outside of Hobart; East Coast Natureworld; Devils@Cradle; Tasmania Zoo; Tasmanian Devil Unzoo; Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary; Wing's Wildlife Park; and, of course, Zoodoo Zoo also in the south. All of these businesses do a great job, not just because they showcase something so special about Tasmania in terms of our native wildlife but also because they provide local employment.

When I went to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, had a tour and made this announcement with Greg Irons, he was able to tell me that, from the money that they earn from their admissions, they run the animal care hospital on site. They run that completely from the proceeds of the visitors to their wildlife sanctuary. There are no handouts and no grants. It is purely funded by them and, of course, by donations from the public, who do care and want to ensure that our wildlife is looked after. So I commend Greg and his crew at Bonorong.

It was great to go to Tasmania Zoo with our candidate for Rosevears—the upper house election in Tasmania is coming up soon—to talk to the crew there about how much it costs to feed their lions and their tigers. They were truly thankful for the support that's being provided. It means that, when we do get through this properly and our borders are open and our restrictions are gone, they will be able to continue to operate and provide the tourism offering that they have so proudly provided for so long.

I'd also like to briefly mention Rural Youth Tasmania, the group behind our flagship rural event in Tasmania, Agfest, which is held annually in May. Sadly, this year, because of coronavirus and the restrictions that have been put in place, they were unable to hold Agfest, which is a huge drawcard for tens of thousands of people. They congregate in a place called Quercus Rural Youth Park just outside of Launceston in northern Tasmania in the electorate of Lyons. There are farming businesses and producers of fine food and wine; all sorts of goods are on offer at this show. They weren't able to hold it this year, but that didn't mean that they didn't do anything.

Rural Youth took it online. From the paddock to the cloud, they were able to hold Agfest on the internet, in effect. Over the period of time that the 400 exhibitors who were part of this initiative were exhibiting the thousands of products, deals and services that were available, we were able to see that more than one million page visits occurred. There were more than one million views of Agfest online.

We had people from the US, New Zealand, the UK, Germany, India, Japan and the Philippines all paying particular attention to Agfest online and all wanting to get their hands on something uniquely Tasmanian and special about our state. It was great that Tasmanians, who never let circumstance stop them or got them down, were able to take advantage of this situation to continue to trade so that they could continue to employ their workers and pay the bills and so will be participants in the economy when we get through this crisis.

So I commend Rural Youth Tasmania for their initiative. I think it's fantastic that they were able to do it. I hope we never see a repeat, but, certainly, it shows that young people in our primary industries are ingenious when it comes to finding ways to get around the problems that they face.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about the government's commitment to our high-end producers of primary produce. In Tasmanian, we have our seafood industry. Tasmania employs more people in the seafood industry than does any other state or territory in the Commonwealth. We were able to support this industry through our freight support mechanism, the $110 million dollar program that was able to get our wonderful premium seafood and other horticultural products like lamb, abalone, beef, berries and the like to our international markets even though the flights had stopped flying. Just because the flights had stopped, it didn't mean that the demand had. Once China, Japan, the Middle East and the US were ready to reopen and, of course, purchase our products, we were ready to go with our support mechanism.

The first flight that took off was full of Tasmanian salmon. The salmon industry employs 5,000 Tasmanians, something I'm very proud of, and I was proud to support this and other industries through this mechanism. I commend the participants in the seafood industry, and, as I say, I'm very proud of my fellow Tasmanians for all they've done.