❓ Question seeks clarity on financial support for northern tourism businesses impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions. The Minister acknowledges the pain and focuses on reopening intrastate tourism, but recognises ongoing challenges for regions with biosecurity zones.
AnsweredQoN 257Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
REGIONAL TOURISM — GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
257. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Tourism:
When will the government announce a financial
support package tailored for those businesses in the north of the state that
are missing their peak tourist season and are likely to be without income for
the next 12 months?
REGIONAL TOURISM — GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
257. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Tourism:
When will the government announce a financial
support package tailored for those businesses in the north of the state that
are missing their peak tourist season and are likely to be without income for
the next 12 months?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr
Speaker, I thank you for the call, and I thank the member for her question. I have
to say at the outset—I have said this many times in recent weeks—that
the pain being felt within the small business community of Western Australia, particularly in tourism businesses, is absolutely
acute, and the government is very sympathetic to the scale of the impact on people in these businesses and the nature of
the stress they are enduring. Everything the government is doing is focused on
providing the best possible outcome for those people. The best thing we can do
is, as fast as possible, to return this state to the new normal—the
COVID-19 world of normal—in the most effective fashion, in the safest
fashion possible. That is what the government is focused on; that is what we
have been working on. Members have heard many ministers today, led by the
Premier, indicating all the efforts that have been made towards ensuring that
we get back to the best possible state we can in the new circumstances—the
new normal. That is no less true of tourism. As the Minister for Tourism, I am
very focused on trying to provide opportunities for tourism businesses.
I
am certain that the defence of our hard borders is a key contributor to us
being able to open up our intrastate borders in due course. A key date is 18
May, but beyond that, subject to how things go and health advice, we will look
towards being able to open up more opportunities for tourism businesses in the
regions, and we should see an opportunity the likes of which we have never seen
for intrastate tourism. Normally, intrastate tourism contributes around 80 per
cent of the state's tourism revenues and visitor numbers anyway, but
this could be a very special moment for those businesses. However, it is
undeniable that some parts of the state will be potentially impacted for longer
than others. The biosecurity regions or zones enacted by the federal government
are likely to be in place for some time; as a consequence, protections afforded
to remote Aboriginal communities will be maintained, but that will have a negative
impact on tourism. We are aware of that and we are working to see what we can
do to help those businesses.
Speaker, I thank you for the call, and I thank the member for her question. I have
to say at the outset—I have said this many times in recent weeks—that
the pain being felt within the small business community of Western Australia, particularly in tourism businesses, is absolutely
acute, and the government is very sympathetic to the scale of the impact on people in these businesses and the nature of
the stress they are enduring. Everything the government is doing is focused on
providing the best possible outcome for those people. The best thing we can do
is, as fast as possible, to return this state to the new normal—the
COVID-19 world of normal—in the most effective fashion, in the safest
fashion possible. That is what the government is focused on; that is what we
have been working on. Members have heard many ministers today, led by the
Premier, indicating all the efforts that have been made towards ensuring that
we get back to the best possible state we can in the new circumstances—the
new normal. That is no less true of tourism. As the Minister for Tourism, I am
very focused on trying to provide opportunities for tourism businesses.
I
am certain that the defence of our hard borders is a key contributor to us
being able to open up our intrastate borders in due course. A key date is 18
May, but beyond that, subject to how things go and health advice, we will look
towards being able to open up more opportunities for tourism businesses in the
regions, and we should see an opportunity the likes of which we have never seen
for intrastate tourism. Normally, intrastate tourism contributes around 80 per
cent of the state's tourism revenues and visitor numbers anyway, but
this could be a very special moment for those businesses. However, it is
undeniable that some parts of the state will be potentially impacted for longer
than others. The biosecurity regions or zones enacted by the federal government
are likely to be in place for some time; as a consequence, protections afforded
to remote Aboriginal communities will be maintained, but that will have a negative
impact on tourism. We are aware of that and we are working to see what we can
do to help those businesses.
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