THE HON. WARREN ENTSCH MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LEICHHARDT: Well, first of all, thank you very much indeed for being here today. Here we are at the Casino, of course, just coming back from showcasing some of our very, very friendly locals at the CaPTA’s Wildlife Dome. Given the Prime Minister another experience in Cairns. And of course, Ken Chapman chair of TTNQ. I’ve got to say to you, it’s wonderful to have you back here so soon, Prime Minister. It seems like only yesterday we were sitting on the bow a Quiksilver vessel going to Green Island and I said to the Prime Minister, I need you to come and sit out on the front here. I’ve got, I’ve got something that we need to put to you and and I had Ken and of course, Mark Olsen, our TTNQ CEO. I said they got something they need to share with you, and you sat down there for quite a while, actually and went through a process on what was required as we recovered from COVID. At the time, both of these guys reported that they were well received and believed that the message had got there. A couple of weeks later, I get a phone call from none other than the Prime Minister, saying: ‘mate, I really got it, I think it’s a great idea, I’m sure we can work on that’. And so the process has been going through. And then recently I mentioned to the Prime Minister that I was having a bit of tourism AGM and dinner here, a lunch here today. And he said: ‘mate, I would love to come up there myself and be part of this’. Such is his passion and commitment to the area. So thank you very much indeed, Prime Minister. I’m going to stand back now and ask you to make the announcement.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much and Warren can I thank you, and Ken and Mark. And can I thank all the amazing tourism operators up here in Tropical North Queensland. This is the best of the best. And it’s not just the best of the best experiences when it comes to tourism in Australia, but anywhere in the world. But they’re also the best of the best when it comes to how to get tourists here to Australia, how to make sure they have a great experience and how to maximise the economic benefits of tourism while looking after our fragile environment, respecting our indigenous culture and ensuring that the whole tourism ecosystem benefits and is sustainable for the future. From my own time back with Tourism Australia many, many years ago now, that was the reputation of TTNQ then and only has continued to grow in stature over time. We have done a great deal together with the tourism industry around the country, but particularly up here in Tropical North Queensland. We have worked together on particularly things like the Wildlife Dome here and so many other zoos around the country to keep them in business, to keep them intact throughout the pandemic. Because even when the visitors don’t come, the animals need still to be cared for. And that’s the science program. It’s the research program. It’s the care and support for the animals. And when you go around, you talk to staff, whether it’s here at the Wildlife Dome or the many other similar places all around the country, what you see is a passion from the staff, both to care for the animals in their care, but also to convey the real stories about these animals, whether it’s the young kids who are coming to visit or the tourists that are coming from overseas. Through the TANS program, which meant we kept the planes in the air, through the discounted airfares that we were providing, through JobKeeper through the cash flow boost. Time and time again, we understood what was needed to keep the tourism industry as whole as it possibly could be until we could look forward to that day again when we opened the borders and we were welcoming the tourists back.
Now there is no part of Australia that has been more dependent on international tourism than here in Tropical North Queensland. No, no part of our tourism industry is more dependent, and no part of our tourism industry has been more successful in the past in developing those markets and nurturing them in the relationships that were needed to continue to allow them to grow. And up here, the tourism industry knows how to deal with setbacks. I go back to the time of the pilot strike, and we go back to the time when the Japanese market moved on and we had to go and secure new markets. They know how to do the business up here, and that’s why I am full, brimming with confidence about what I know is going to happen here in Tropical North Queensland. It has been heartbreaking to have been coming up here well before I was in parliament and I’ve known Warren since well before I was in parliament. It’s been heartbreaking to see the streets and the cafes and the many operators not realising what they love to do. When people start tourism businesses, sure, they want to be successful, but it’s a lifestyle choice as well. They love what they do. They love showcasing Australia and particularly this region to every single visitor that comes.
And so during the course of the pandemic, we supported North Queensland, Far North Queensland with $10 million in supporting them to attract the domestic industry to ensure that they could keep afloat. We supported the maritime operators here by actually turning them into reef maintenance and monitoring operators, and those programs continue in the billion dollars I announced for the Great Barrier Reef with Minister Ley when I was up here with Warren just a few months ago with Jenny, and at that time we did work through what we needed to do to ensure that we can get the tourists back here as soon as we open up those borders. Well, those borders are open and the way we need to do that is we need to convert that incredible love that visitors all around the world have for this country and particularly here in Tropical North Queensland.
And so we are announcing a package of $60 million today, which will be for the next financial year and the financial year after that, because we know this is not just a one time thing, this is going to require a dedication to building our tourism industry back up here and right across the country. So the $60 million, but of that $60 million a quarter of it is going directly to TTNQ because they’re at the cutting edge. They’re at the leading edge of our tourism industry. And when TTNQ and Tropical North Queensland more broadly is doing well, then the Australian tourism industry is doing well. They’re out there selling Australia like like few can, and they’ve got some of the best products in the country to be able to do that. And once people are captured by what is on available here, I know from experience that they start looking at all the other options, whether it be in Western Australia or down in Tasmania, over at The Rock and down in Sydney and Melbourne. All the experiences that Australia has to offer. TTNQ, they’re out there, right out front, and I want to make sure that they can be up there, right out front as we go into this new phase. And what they’ll be focusing on is converting that love of Australia into getting bums on seats, on planes and getting there as soon as possible.
There are two ways you market tourism as Ken knows and Mark knows. One is you build up awareness in Australia. Well, we know that. And the other part of it is converting that into real business and getting people here, spending money, particularly in Cairns, across Far North Queensland again. So $15 million is going directly to TTNQ, and I encourage the State Government to match that. It’s not a condition of this funding that $15 million is coming, rain hail or shine it’s coming, absolutely. But I would encourage the Queensland Government to join us in supporting TTNQ to ensure this region can get back up on its feet as quickly as they can.
There’s $45 million that is going into Tourism Australia and that will be spread across three activities. But the main one will be exactly what TTNQ is doing, and that is working with airline partners, working with the travel agents and the wholesale operators in the international markets all around the world and making sure that will be great product together with a great airline package and get on a great price, which means they’ll get here. That’s what will drive tourists to Australia again, and we need to get about it and fast. Tourism Australia has been preparing for this moment, just like TTNQ had been preparing for this moment, and we’re backing them in 100 per cent with the $15 million here and the $45 million otherwise. There’ll be some further extension of the consumer marketing activities of Tourism Australia. And there’ll also be a $5 million focus on business events as well. So it’s, I’m confident about where tourism’s going to go. I’m confident in the product that’s on offer. I’m confident in the people who put that together and work in our tourism businesses every day. I’m confident about their passion for what they do, and I know that that is infectious and that people will come back to Far North Queensland. They will have an awesome time like I have had here today and every single time I come up and they’ll go back and they’ll tell their friends and they’ll tell their family. And before long we will see this absolute amazing tourism region at a global scale back, realising what it was and realising before the pandemic.
So can I thank TTNQ in particular. Thank you, Ken and Mark, for working with us and to work this out. You guys have done a lot of experience. And I thank Dan Tehan, the Tourism Minister, for his enthusiasm for this package. He would love to be here today, but we’re working on a trade deal with India at the moment. I had a great meeting with Narendra Modi last night and that was another important market to be highlighted in our discussions last night. We want to see Indian tourists coming back here as well, as well as the students. So exciting times Ken and I know our trust, our trust is well placed in you to get the job done.
MR KEN CHAPMAN, CHAIR OF TOURISM TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND: Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister, and you heard it right from from the top man. He gets it. Everything he said is really what I was going to say and didn’t need to because the PM came up here just a few weeks ago. He knew what tough times we’ve been through. He knew also the opportunity to bring back the international tourism visitors that we used to get. It’s a big job. The international travel trade is also been decimated by the pandemic. And while we were the most successful international tourism destination, regional destination, in the country and we can be again, the work we’ve got to do in rebuilding those relationships and converting the interest in Australia to actual bookings to come to Australia is a big job. But we can do it. The PM got it. Understood. Listened to our proposal and backed it, frankly, and that’s going to make the difference.
Pre-pandemic, we generated a billion dollars of tax revenue. That’s the tourism industry in this region alone. A billion dollars of tax revenue every year. We need to get that back, not just for this region and jobs and and the spread through the economy, but for the whole country. So we will do that. So I really have to say thank you very much to the Prime Minister. And also I have to acknowledge the great efforts of Warren Entsch. He’s been he’s been fighting for the tourism industry in this region so hard right throughout the pandemic. It’s not just this announcement, frankly, you know, it’s it’s the JobKeeper, it’s the regional aquariums package, the various funding programs for the different tourism businesses, reef operators et cetera. That has saved tourism businesses and jobs in this region and around the country throughout this pandemic, and it allows us to come back as an industry now with this support. And, you know, you’ve just got to give credit where credit’s due in that case. We will come back. I really want to thank the PM particularly for having that confidence in us to back us. We’ll make it happen.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks to everyone at TTNQ and well done Warren. A champion of the north.
THE HON. WARREN ENTSCH MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LEICHHARDT: Can I just acknowledge we’ve got Michael and Ben and Peter tonight over here from Capital who hosted us, a fabulous, fabulous experience for the PM and I warned him about the koalas when you’re held on a [inaudible], but there was no marks on his shirt whatsoever, so you trained them well. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the girls would be very jealous. Ok, happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, when do you anticipate the travel restrictions regarding COVID will be eased which is helping to get more people on planes?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, when it comes to the international borders, they’re open and there are no caps on flights, people can come. And in the very near future, the Health Minister will be making some further announcements about things particularly involving pre-testing of flights of those who are getting on flights to come to Australia. That will be an important milestone that’s not too far away from us now. And as Warren reminded me before, cruise shipping, the 17th of April, we’re open, we’re open and it’ll take some time just to build that up again. But the work that is being done up here to prepare for the cruise industry previously, that will now be able to be activated. And so, you know, while we’re never complacent about the challenges that COVID can present and new variants, but we’re watching all of those closely as we keep looking through that that windscreen, hopefully we can continue to see COVID in the rear vision mirror.
JOURNALIST: Will any of this funding be focused on backpackers, because obviously a lot of tourism and hospitality businesses up here have been reliant and are still struggling to get the stuff that they really need from backpackers.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’m glad you asked that for two reasons. One is one of the announcements I made last year was we increased the funding for backpacker tourism to Australia for funding to market to backpackers by $10 million. We got Tourism Australia that support last year, but I have no doubt that a big part of the TTNQ will follow will be in that space. So we’re not going to tell them all, that they know where they need to go to space. And but the other thing I’d say to those backpackers who are here in Australia, it’s time to come back up north because there’s going to be lots of tourists coming and the businesses here are going to need you here now to be working here as well. And I want to encourage you to make your way north and be back here. There there’ll be a lot of opportunities, and I’d say that to other Australians too, the jobs will be coming back here in far north Queensland and they will need you to ensure that we can meet the demand that is already on its way. I’ve got some information from Tourism Australia this morning that on advance bookings, forward bookings, we’re almost back up over 90 per cent out of the UK what we’ve seen before. So, you know, we think that the UK market is going to come back strongly. I think that will be also followed by the North American market. There is still some travel restrictions on return to country and places like Japan and Korea, China, and so they’re not within our control. We can’t we can’t affect what countries are doing when tourists go back to their country. But we will see this build up. Kiwis will be back in course, no doubt. And and it’ll be great to see. Did you want to talk about backpackers and where you might want to focus?
MR KEN CHAPMAN, CHAIR OF TOURISM TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND: Yeah, as the PM said, TA is actually already, Tourism Australia, is already pushing the backpacker market pretty far. You know, they’ll be the first to come back here and and we’re backing that now with some of this funding because it is very important. We had, you know, about 5,000 backpackers working in tourism hospitality in this region pre-COVID. We want them back and they have a great time, where where else would you want to work but paradise out on the reef or in the rainforest? So, yeah, absolutely. We’ll be pushing that hard, but not just that. All the markets, you know, and including, you know, meetings and exhibitions as well, you know, room series out of North America. We want to get all of this, we want to get the flights back and we want to get the businesses and the economy back to where it was, as I was saying, generating a billion dollars in tax revenue. That’s what this is about. This is this is investing really in the future of this region and the country.
JOURNALIST: Can you give just give a little bit more detail on where this $15 million is going to be spent? Can you just give us a bit more detail on that?
MR KEN CHAPMAN, CHAIR OF TOURISM TROPICAL NORTH QUEENSLAND: Yes, so a particular focus is on trade marketing, which means so historically, we’re the heroes really of trade relationships, meaning travel agents all around the world. We’re working really well. You know, the industry works together. We had impacts. We get out there and we had 30 years of fantastic relationships, which is why we’re the most successful regional destination for international tourism. But those travel agents around the world have been decimated. They’ve had two years without income as well. So they’ve got all new staff, so there is a particular focus on that, on reinventing those relationships, teaching them about the destination, getting them down here, but also supporting our operators to get out there and work with us to make that happen. So it’s a team effort and you’ve got to remember the businesses in this region, they’ve had two years without cash flow. So, you know, it’s really tough. They actually need help because, they’re the A-team, we want them back. So we’re doing a lot of that sort of stuff. Also, a lot of you know, more traditional things, social media, but this is about conversion. It’s not about brands so much as actually turning that enthusiasm to travel. They’ve been stuck at home for two years. But they’ve always wanted to come down and see the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest and Australia more generally. We need to get in to convert that interest to actual bookings and that’s the focus.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you cutting, or freezing, petrol excise in the Budget?
PRIME MINISTER: The Budget is next week and the Treasurer is hard at work together with the Finance Minister, we are extremely conscious of the impact, particularly of the rise in fuel prices on the cost of living and the cost of doing business because fuel prices flow right through. The terrible things we’re seeing in Ukraine, as you know, on the weekend, we announced further measures to support the people of Ukraine, including sending 70,000 tonnes of coal, which the Federal Government purchased from Whitehaven, and to get it there to power up their resistance of the Russian invasion. But these terrible events are having a big impact on the global economy and particularly on the price of oil by the barrel. And that is pushing these costs up. Australians understand. And so the Treasurer and I have been working carefully to ensure we get our response right in addressing these cost of living pressures that Australians are facing right across the spectrum and that’s what we do. That’s what we did when we went through the pandemic. You don’t get knee jerk reactions from this government. You get carefully thought through responsible policies that perform to their task. That’s what JobKeeper did. That’s what our zoos programme did. That’s what our cash flow boost did. And that’s what our programmes to ensure with IFAM, I remember being up here with Warren during the course of the pandemic, and we were we were getting the fish up into Asia with the subsidised flights to ensure that we could keep a lot of that freight moving. And that was a lifeline to so many industries here in Australia.
So what the Treasurer and I do as economic managers, is we get the design right and we do and we put in the work and we ensure that that support that we provide is effective, but it’s also responsible. I’ve heard the Shadow Treasurer today thinking that he’s got a blank cheque, that he can spend as much as he likes and he’s talking about ‘oh quality spending’. Well, I remember the quality spending, so called, for Labor last time they were in government. I remember the pink batts disaster, I remember the overpriced school halls. I remember the terrible programmes like Cash for Clunkers and all of these sorts of things. Now that’s the quality that Labor talks about. That hasn’t been our programmes. Our programmes, particularly during this pandemic, has saved the Australian economy, 700,000 jobs alone, and that came from getting the balance right and getting the targeting right and the discipline right. See, we know when we need to go and spend, but we also know when we need to stop. And under the Labor Party’s financial management, yeah, they know how to start spending, but they never know how to stop. And that’s what Jim Chalmers has said today that he won’t be constrained and that he is spending won’t stop. And that’s why you can’t trust Labor with Australia’s finances.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you mentioned that international tourism is so crucial to the far north.
PRIME MINISTER: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Is this two year investment enough to keep the tourism industry afloat up here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ve got great confidence that over the next couple of years, the Australian tourism industry will get back strongly on its feet. And of course, our support for tourism is ongoing. It always is. What this is about is giving a strategic boost to the tourism industry to get back up on its feet because as the operators here know, tourism is a very competitive business globally. I know that from my own experience and you’ve got to be out there and this has going to help the Australian tourism industry burst out of the blocks as the rest of the world is opening up, as are we. And this is a safe destination. This is an amazing destination. People who come here, you know, talk about their experiences here for the whole of their lives, and that’s what our tourism industry does. And there’s no better set of operators anywhere in the world. So yeah, just like during the pandemic, we backed Australian businesses, we backed in Australia and we’re backing the Australian tourism industry with TTNQ at the tip point of the spear as we go back out and we reclaim those markets.
JOURNALIST: But is this a sustainable solution for the future, for the long term?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is exactly what TTNQ asked us to do because they know that once we get the business back up on its feet, that its strength will continue to take them forward. But we continue to support Tourism Australia year in, year out. We continue to support the promotion of events and particularly here in Queensland. We promote and support many events. And with the 2032 Olympics, I’ll tell you, when people come for those Games, they’ll be coming here and they’ll be coming here in large numbers. And so the opportunity to build to that opportunity, I think, is just tremendous. So yes, my short answer is yes. This is the injection that is needed to boost the far north Queensland tourism industry in the future, but not just the tropical north Queensland, the whole country.
JOURNALIST: Anthony Albanese says there’s a constant review of bullying claims in the Labor Party, does that put the matter to rest?
PRIME MINISTER: No. I mean, honestly. Yesterday was an important day for Kimberley Kitching’s family, and I’m pleased that she was able to be honoured in the way that she was with so many of her family and friends and there were people from both sides of politics to pay tribute. I welcome the fact that she’ll be honoured within the Labor Party with an ongoing recognition award to those in the Labor Party. I think that’s very fitting. But that does not dismiss the fact that serious allegations have been made. Not by the Liberal Party, but by members of the Labor Party, about a toxic culture within the Labor Party, which the leader of the Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, is in hiding and won’t address. He can’t just dismiss away hard issues. That’s not what prime ministers can do, and this is someone who wants to be prime minister. You face up to these things as my government has and dealt with difficult issues and work them through and had the reviews and had the inquiries and ensured that we’ve made the system better for all of the parliament. But what we’ve got from Anthony Albanese at the first sign of hard questions and we’re not even into the campaign, he has gone into complete hiding. Frankly, I think it’s pretty gutless.
JOURNALIST: Will the Federal Government go halves with Queensland on the $771 million flood package and will hardship payments be increased to bring Queensland in line with New South Wales?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we’re considering the proposal that was given to us by the Queensland Government on the weekend and that’s going through its normal process of assessments. The support that we’ve already provided here in Queensland is over half a billion dollars directly by the federal government. Half a billion dollars has already gone and that’s including almost with, we’ve been pushing $300 million that we have already directly provided to those impacted by the floods in Queensland through our disaster payment. Now, I can’t tell you how much actual dollars have gone out from the Queensland Government to support floods victims. I know that we had a $535 million partnership from their first request and we said we’d happily meet half of those costs. And that was in addition to the Commonwealth meeting the disaster payment 100 per cent. That was in addition to the Commonwealth committing to the Disaster Recovery Allowance, which is the 13 week payment for those who can’t earn an income because of the disruption impact of the floods. Now we’re considering the further proposals that have been made by the Queensland government and how they fit in the scope of what is done on a Commonwealth response to floods in New South Wales, the flood experience is very different and we’re talking about a one in 500 year flood in northern New South Wales.
JOURNALIST: How long will the consideration take, I mean people are homeless, there’s real crises going on, how long will it take to consider this?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we’re talking about now, we’re already making payments. That’s my point. The Commonwealth Government has already put cash in the pockets of those who have been impacted by the floods and frankly, the Commonwealth as yet is the only one who’s done that. And so we need to get of that half a billion dollar package that we’ve already signed up to, which goes to the many of the issues you’re talking about. Those funds are delivered by the state government that they already have over half a billion dollars that we’ve agreed to pay half of. And I want to see that support getting out there and and that should be happening now and there should be no delay to that. And we will consider the other measures that have been put forward to us, which are much longer term measures. And an important one of those that we’re looking at is ongoing flood mitigation because dealing with climate change isn’t just about getting emissions down, and our emissions are down by around 20 per cent. Now, the United States can’t say that Canada can’t say that, New Zealand can’t say that, Japan can’t say that, none of those countries can say that. But Australia can.
But it’s also about climate resilience and it’s also about climate adaptation. And that means that you build the dams and we want to build more dams, and we want the Queensland Government to start supporting us to build those dams because they’re the ones who have to approve it and we’ve been seeking to build more dams in Queensland for many years and have been frustrated day after day. Now I’m hoping that that will change and we will get greater support now from the Queensland Government to support our dam projects that we want to see built in Queensland, which will both deal with important issues of managing floods and at the same time, open up major agricultural opportunities right across Queensland.
But today it’s wonderful to be here in tropical north Queensland. It’s wonderful to be here with TTNQ. It’s great to be here with Warren, who’s just been an absolute champion for this region, whether it’s the reinsurance pool, $10 billion, to make sure that people can live and work here and get access to that insurance, particularly on the difficult strata issues, or whether it’s the Link Road or whether it’s what we’re doing on the Bruce Highway. I mean, the achievements list of of Warren Entsch when it comes to standing up the region over a very long time has been extraordinary, and he’s and he’s as fired up today as when I first met him, gosh, when was that Warren, was about twenty five years ago, and he’s still a great champion. So thanks very much, Ken. Good on you, Waz. Good on you, thanks Mark.
