Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that some of the biggest decisions that will determine the long-term economic recovery of the Cairns region and other tourism towns in regional Queensland will be the decisions of this government. This government will need to make a decision about whether they taper and target JobKeeper to support heavily impacted tourism regions, and we know that Cairns is the hardest hit area in Queensland. They are pleading for certainty on JobKeeper today.

This government will also need to make a decision about whether to provide support to our aviation sector, because we know that without a second national airline—without Virgin flying to the regions directly from our cities—our tourism industry will not recover in the long term. But this is what we know about this government's support for the tourism industry: they have shown a complete lack of urgency to support tourism industries; they have dropped the ball on Virgin, risking regional tourism; and the Prime Minister is now insisting on snapping away support—

Government Senators:

Government senators interjecting—

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Accountability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Interjections are disorderly. I know this is a topic that raises people's feelings, but could we hear Senator Green in some silence. Thank you.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister is now insisting on snapping away support and taking away JobKeeper when we know that the economy won't snap back. When the travel ban on Chinese travel was put in place by this federal government in February, I said that the crisis would hit Cairns first and worst, and I was right. In December we saw the first signs of the outbreak in China, and on 1 February the federal government banned international travel from China. This ban had an immediate and significant impact on the Cairns region, which was expecting Chinese New Year travellers that week. I called for direct support for the tourism industry in this place, and in Cairns I called on the Prime Minister to visit Cairns and see the impact firsthand and deliver support. The Prime Minister was asked in a press conference if he was considering financial assistance to the university, tourism or hospitality sectors and in February he said no. There were warning signs and cancellations and yet no support from this government. When assistance finally did come, it came in the form of marketing money redirected from a $76 million crisis package already announced for areas struggling in the wake of the bushfires. They redirected bushfire money, and that was all they could come up with to support the tourism industry back in February.

Assistance in the form of JobKeeper to those businesses that have been impacted finally came when the government adopted Labor's proposal for a wage subsidy scheme. But we know that those payments didn't start hitting the ground until the first week in May. February, March, April, May: that is how long it took this government to do anything to help the tourism industry. And we know that this government has failed to act to stop our second national airline going into administration. In extraordinary and unprecedented times, the government failed to step up to the plate and is still refusing to work with an administrator to help Virgin survive and bring tourists to regional Queensland. They have sat on their hands as regional economies have pleaded for them to step in and help Virgin. All they've done is deliver stopgap measures. Regional economies need a long-term plan and certainty for the industry now, but they can't get that from this government.

Finally, Treasury figures released today confirm what we already know—that the Cairns economy is not going to snap back to normal on 27 September. The data shows that Cairns will be one of the hardest-hit areas in Queensland if wage subsidies end on 27 September. There are 500 more businesses registered in Cairns than there are in Brisbane, and Scott Morrison's comments this week that JobKeeper would run until the end of September as legislated and no more show that this government has no plan to keep regional economies afloat. Cairns Regional Council and Far North Queensland tourist operators have called on the federal government—that's you guys—to provide certainty, but there are no signs that the government will act.

We know that, the less done to protect jobs and support vulnerable workers, businesses and communities in the coming months, the harder and longer the economic recovery will be. It's clear to tourism operators and businesses in Cairns that the economy has been hit hard. It is not unreasonable for the government to take circumstances like this into consideration and give those businesses some certainty about JobKeeper. So, maybe instead of coming in here with their daggers sharpened to the state government, instead of drafting motions about what other governments should do, those opposite might want to consider doing their job and doing what is within the realm of their own responsibility and their own accountability as members of this government. Give businesses and employers some certainty around JobKeeper. Do that! It is your job. Save our second national airline from collapse to protect regional tourism. Step up to the plate and do something to save Virgin.

Senator McGrath interjecting—

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator McGrath!

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And while you're sitting at your desk and drafting motions, why don't you draft a motion to protect the Great Barrier Reef? It has suffered another bleaching event under this government. The Great Barrier Reef protects 64,000 jobs, and this government has done nothing—there is no climate change policy—to protect one single job. (Time expired)