❓ Mrs. Hayden questions the Premier about the adequacy of the tourism recovery fund given the collapse in overseas visitors and the impact of intrastate border restrictions. The Premier defends the fund, highlighting its size relative to other states and its targeted approach.
AnsweredQoN 283Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — TOURISM INDUSTRY
283. Mrs A.K. HAYDEN to the Premier:
I refer to the release of statistics this
week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that highlight the absolute
collapse in overseas visitors to Western Australia —
Several members interjected.
Mrs A.K. HAYDEN : I would not be laughing!
The SPEAKER :
Members! I want to hear this.
Mrs A.K. HAYDEN : I refer to the ABS statistics released this week, which highlight
the absolute collapse in overseas visitors to
WA and the ongoing impact of intrastate border restrictions. Can the Premier
advise why today's tourism recovery fund announcement applies to
only 1 600 tourism businesses? Although welcome, that represents only a fraction
of WA's 28 000-plus tourism operators and 220 000-plus small business
operators.
283. Mrs A.K. HAYDEN to the Premier:
I refer to the release of statistics this
week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that highlight the absolute
collapse in overseas visitors to Western Australia —
Several members interjected.
Mrs A.K. HAYDEN : I would not be laughing!
The SPEAKER :
Members! I want to hear this.
Mrs A.K. HAYDEN : I refer to the ABS statistics released this week, which highlight
the absolute collapse in overseas visitors to
WA and the ongoing impact of intrastate border restrictions. Can the Premier
advise why today's tourism recovery fund announcement applies to
only 1 600 tourism businesses? Although welcome, that represents only a fraction
of WA's 28 000-plus tourism operators and 220 000-plus small business
operators.
AnswerView source ↗
I have not seen
the ABS statistics, but it does not surprise me that overseas visitation has
declined very significantly . I hope that it is down to
zero! If it is not down to zero, I would be very disappointed, because we
actually requested the commonwealth government to stop overseas visitation to Western
Australia. That was our request of the commonwealth government; I just want us
to be clear about that. The policy position of the Western Australian
government for probably the past 10 to 12 weeks has been that we have no
overseas visitors coming into Western Australia. I want that to be clear for
the member.
Secondly, when it comes to the intrastate
border arrangements, we made the position clear on Sunday that there will be
changes as of this coming Monday and that there will be a reduction in the
regional borders within Western Australia. That will be of benefit to tourism
operators around the state. It is not as far as some people would like, but I think
people broadly would acknowledge that we got the balance pretty right in
protecting the health of our citizens in regional Western Australia, and
particularly vulnerable people, while at the same time getting more economic
activity underway. We will have further reviews in the weeks after that.
Thirdly, in terms of the tourism
announcement we made this morning of $14.4 million, we have structured that
commitment so that there will be a focus on tourism businesses around Western Australia.
The thing about governments is that they can
never do as much as people might like. Every one of the member's
questions has b een, ''Why don't you spend more here? Why
don't you spend more there? Why don't you spend more there?''
She has asked that in every single question. It is a constant refrain from the
opposition. The government, of course, has to be responsible and has to target
its spending to deal with matters and needs that are most acute and most
important for pulling the state out of the COVID-19 situation. We can compare
our package for tourism of around $15 million with that of the South Australian
government of around $5 million. Many tourism operators had called for a similar
model. Our package is three times the size of the South Australian package and
very much targeted at tourism operators who are accredited with some of the
relevant tourism associations. We are trying to provide a bridge for those
operators to get to the other side and some support for them to rebirth their
operations.
If the member wants
my broad view of how tourism in Western Australia will go once the intrastate
borders are lifted, I think it will go very well, because I think we will see Western
Australians getting out there and seeing parts of the state that they have
never seen before. We will find that all those Western Australians who once
upon a time wanted to go to Bali, Phuket, New York or London will now head off
to parts of Western Australia that they have not seen before. Communities all
over the state will find that there are huge tourism benefits from local people
experiencing the tourism wonders of Western Australia. That will particularly
be the case when the other intrastate borders are lifted, on health advice.
I think the package
we launched today is very well balanced and very well targeted. It is based on
a lot of work by staff at the tourism commission. If those staff are watching,
I would like to thank them for all the work they have done to target this package. They have worked with the industry. I also
add for the member that I have had a personal message from Mr Evan Hall
of the Tourism Council Western Australia, thanking us for the outstanding
package we have put in place. There appears to be only one person who is
unhappy with what we have done today, and that is the member for Darling Range.
the ABS statistics, but it does not surprise me that overseas visitation has
declined very significantly . I hope that it is down to
zero! If it is not down to zero, I would be very disappointed, because we
actually requested the commonwealth government to stop overseas visitation to Western
Australia. That was our request of the commonwealth government; I just want us
to be clear about that. The policy position of the Western Australian
government for probably the past 10 to 12 weeks has been that we have no
overseas visitors coming into Western Australia. I want that to be clear for
the member.
Secondly, when it comes to the intrastate
border arrangements, we made the position clear on Sunday that there will be
changes as of this coming Monday and that there will be a reduction in the
regional borders within Western Australia. That will be of benefit to tourism
operators around the state. It is not as far as some people would like, but I think
people broadly would acknowledge that we got the balance pretty right in
protecting the health of our citizens in regional Western Australia, and
particularly vulnerable people, while at the same time getting more economic
activity underway. We will have further reviews in the weeks after that.
Thirdly, in terms of the tourism
announcement we made this morning of $14.4 million, we have structured that
commitment so that there will be a focus on tourism businesses around Western Australia.
The thing about governments is that they can
never do as much as people might like. Every one of the member's
questions has b een, ''Why don't you spend more here? Why
don't you spend more there? Why don't you spend more there?''
She has asked that in every single question. It is a constant refrain from the
opposition. The government, of course, has to be responsible and has to target
its spending to deal with matters and needs that are most acute and most
important for pulling the state out of the COVID-19 situation. We can compare
our package for tourism of around $15 million with that of the South Australian
government of around $5 million. Many tourism operators had called for a similar
model. Our package is three times the size of the South Australian package and
very much targeted at tourism operators who are accredited with some of the
relevant tourism associations. We are trying to provide a bridge for those
operators to get to the other side and some support for them to rebirth their
operations.
If the member wants
my broad view of how tourism in Western Australia will go once the intrastate
borders are lifted, I think it will go very well, because I think we will see Western
Australians getting out there and seeing parts of the state that they have
never seen before. We will find that all those Western Australians who once
upon a time wanted to go to Bali, Phuket, New York or London will now head off
to parts of Western Australia that they have not seen before. Communities all
over the state will find that there are huge tourism benefits from local people
experiencing the tourism wonders of Western Australia. That will particularly
be the case when the other intrastate borders are lifted, on health advice.
I think the package
we launched today is very well balanced and very well targeted. It is based on
a lot of work by staff at the tourism commission. If those staff are watching,
I would like to thank them for all the work they have done to target this package. They have worked with the industry. I also
add for the member that I have had a personal message from Mr Evan Hall
of the Tourism Council Western Australia, thanking us for the outstanding
package we have put in place. There appears to be only one person who is
unhappy with what we have done today, and that is the member for Darling Range.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.