Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This government's tin ear and cement heart have been on show again this week and are on show right now in this MPI. They extend to its response to the recovery and the renewal effort needed in regional communities. JobKeeper has been central in getting us to this point, a point of fragile hope for the future. It was Labor, back in March, who pushed the government to introduce a wage subsidy. Those opposite described the idea of JobKeeper as 'dangerous', but JobKeeper has been vital. Tragically, hundreds of thousands of Australians are about to be left behind. Entire sectors, including tourism and hospitality, will be denied the government support that has kept them afloat and given them any hope.

In my electorate of Eden-Monaro, 5,339 workers are expected to lose JobKeeper at the end of the month. That's $2.7 million a week ripped away from our local economy, at a time when we can least afford it. The day-to-day weight that comes with this kick in the guts is real, especially for the already traumatised communities right across Eden-Monaro. A recent survey of business in the Bega Valley found that 50 per cent of businesses lack confidence in their viability over the next 12 months. These businesses were robbed of income over the last two summers, and I have no doubt that the results would be very similar in other parts of Eden-Monaro. The depth of this feeling comes from years of challenges—years of drought followed by the worst bushfires in modern history, followed by floods and followed by a global pandemic. But you don't get it.

The salt in the wound for families tied to these local businesses is that the very support they have been relying on is about to be ripped out from under them, with no plan or safety net for their future. Over 5,000 families in Eden-Monaro can't see a future beyond the next two weeks. The survey—which was done by Bega Valley Shire Council, Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing and Destination Southern NSW—also showed 54 per cent of businesses had to reduce their staffing levels, with 53 full-time staff and 218 part-time staff laid off in the wake of bushfires and border closures.

Last New Year's Eve, businesses from Eden to Narooma, from Jindabyne to Talbingo, were braced for good times. Camp sites were full, hire boats were busy, local breweries were singing and restaurant tables were being turned over. A solid rebound was building following the wipe-out from the bushfires the summer before. That was until COVID-19 flared in Sydney and the Victorian border was slammed shut. The people in those camp sites and on those hire boats had to leave. The Prime Minister's national cabinet failed to come up with a definition for 'hotspots' before, during or after. It has failed to set trigger points for border closures. The risk of snap border closures remains for communities and businesses in Eden-Monaro. Peter from Longstocking Brewery at Pambula told me: 'We had just four days of excellent sales when the Victorian border closed. We had 130 people booked in, of which only seven turned up. And, as a consequence, we had to lay off staff.'

The jobs that have remained have been supported by JobKeeper, and the sad irony for Peter and every business in Eden-Monaro is that the New Year's Eve border closure happened on the same day that, 12 months prior, fire ripped through our local landscape, smashing the busiest and most productive part of our year. The Eden-Monaro economy has lost two summers—that's over $150 million in the Bega Valley alone. We simply can't afford to lose any more, and yet this government is about to rip another $2.6 million a week out of local pockets. When quizzed on the future of JobKeeper, those opposite have pointed to the vaccine rollout—a misguided hope, as it turns out. The snail's pace at which people are being vaccinated simply isn't building confidence and hope in people that need it. The loss of JobKeeper only compounds the despair, as does the risk that, while we wait for the jab, borders could snap shut again. In the end, beyond income support, real, secure and meaningful work is what people really want.

On the South West Slopes, timber jobs are at risk too. This government's tin ear and cement heart have failed to grapple with that—that's $2 billion from the Snowy Valleys' economy. Forty per cent of their timber production has been lost and 157 jobs could be lost in Tumbarumba alone. But what have they done, apart from listening to a commonsense solution? They have done nothing. (Time expired)

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