- Premier should release public health advice
- Tasmanians deserve to know why restrictions remain so strict
Peter Gutwein should release the public health advice that is driving his decision to keep businesses from returning to normal sooner.
Labor Leader, Rebecca White, said tourism and hospitality operators deserved clarity on when they could return to normal trade.
“Tasmania’s visitor economy is one of the key drivers of our economy with around 17 per cent of Tasmanians either directly or indirectly employed by the tourism sector,” Ms White said.
“Tourism and hospitality has been one of the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus with some of the highest unemployment numbers but the stimulus packages to date have not been targeted enough to address the impact to this industry.
“At the outset of this virus, the Labor party urged the Government to go hard and to go early as we understood that the biggest threat to our economy was failing to tackle the virus.
“We also knew that acting early would give our state the best chance of recovering from the impact of the virus sooner, enabling our domestic economy to rebuild and getting people back into jobs.
“Tasmanians have done an extraordinary job of getting on top of the virus with the state approaching a month without any new cases.
“The restrictions currently in place are some of the strictest in the nation and we are hearing daily from businesses, particularly in tourism and hospitality, about the challenge this is placing on them.
“The Premier should release the public health advice he is relying on to make decisions in order to be totally transparent with the community.
“People deserve to understand the reasons restrictions remain so strict, particularly when it is impacting on the livelihoods of many workers and businesses across the economy.
“While Labor welcomes plans for Tasmania to become the gateway for the Trans-Tasman bubble with New Zealand we would like more detail on how this would work if implemented before our borders are opened.
“There is also a lot of work that needs to happen at the Hobart airport so it can take international visitors and we are calling on the Federal Government to fast track money in the City Deal for urgent upgrades at the airport.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
