Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the northern Australians working within the tourism industry, which plays a vital role in supporting the northern Australian economy;

(2) recognises that tourist spending provides further opportunities for local small businesses within the community; and

(3) notes that:

(a) the Government is investing in small businesses through its Jobs and Small Business Package released in the 2015 budget; and

(b) this package provides small businesses, including most businesses within the tourism industry, with much needed assistance to grow and create jobs.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Liberal-National government has, for the past three years, successfully implemented a plan to unlock the future potential of northern Australia. My own electorate of Capricornia is, in fact, both the official gateway and farm gate to northern Australia, but we also have a world-class tourism industry with world-class tourism attractions. Today, I would like to acknowledge the people of northern Australia working in the tourism industry, which plays a vital role in supporting the northern Australian economy, recognise that tourism spending provides further opportunities for small business within our local regional communities and note that the Liberal-National government is investing in small business through it Jobs and Small Business package.

This package provides small business, including most businesses within the tourism industry, with much-needed assistance to grow and create jobs. It allows small business access to a program where they can immediately deduct the purchase of any piece of equipment in their business for items up to the value of $20,000. Small business owners involved in the tourism sector of Capricornia tell me that this particular budget measure has helped them enormously in the area of cash flow and provided the ability to update much-needed equipment, from cafe tables and coffee machines to business vehicles and rural equipment. This has allowed tourism-related businesses to improve their facilities and attract more tourists.

Tourism spending is an important part of the northern Australian economy. In Capricornia, economic and tourism group Capricorn Enterprise identify one of their big branded destinations as the southern Great Barrier Reef. Capricorn Enterprise reports that 94 per cent of visitors to our region are domestic and six per cent are international travellers, which equates to about two million visitors annually. The top five international source countries are the UK, Germany, New Zealand, North America and France. The average spend per visit to Central Queensland is $499. The southern Great Barrier Reef, including Central Queensland, is the fifth-highest visited region in Queensland and the 14th-highest visited region in Australia by domestic visitors.

I would like to take this opportunity to shamelessly tell you more about the great tourism attractions of Capricornia. In northern Capricornia, we have the Pioneer Valley and the beautiful Eungella National Park, which is home to one of the best platypus-viewing areas in the state. Sarina, south of Mackay, is the sugar capital of Capricornia and boasts great beaches and a unique sugar based rum distillery. In western Capricornia, we have outback cattle stays, mining tours and historic towns such as Clermont; while in southern Capricornia, we have Rockhampton and the beautiful Capricorn coast around Byfield, Yeppoon and Emu Park.

A visit to the Capricorn area would not be complete without a stop at the Capricorn Caves. Recently, I had the privilege of officially launching an Australian first at this location, near a town aptly named The Caves. The $300,000 project involved relighting the historic Capricorn limestone caves to provide a more dynamic experience for tourists. Old cave lighting from the 1960s has been replaced with new, leading-edge, solar-powered technology. The Capricorn Caves is now the first cave experience of its type in Australia to run lights on solar power.

The Koorana Crocodile Farm near Emu Park is another world leader, selling crocodile skins overseas to be turned into Gucci handbags. And, of course, one of the jewels in the crown is Great Keppel Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Regrettably, Great Keppel Island has been without a major resort development due to the global financial crisis experienced in the tourism sector in the past decade, but I understand that negotiations continue for new business arrangements that could see construction begin on a $1 billion resort project by the end of next year. Such negotiations could have been made easier if the Queensland Labor government granted a boutique gaming licence to the island that would allow it to attract Asian investors to guarantee construction. Central Queensland needs this resort because, in the long run, it would create up to 1,500 new jobs. This is a testament to the value of tourism in northern Australia.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I certainly will agree with the member for Capricornia that her electorate in Central Queensland, and indeed, all of northern Australia, has a lot to offer the tourism sector. That is why it is so disappointing that this government is ignoring the tourism sector.

Just two weeks ago, during the break, I was at the Australian Regional Tourism Network national conference in Roma in western Queensland. There you would expect the tourism minister to be, perhaps, but he did not bother to go; perhaps the parliamentary secretary to the tourism minister—did not bother to go. Indeed, no-one bothered to go from the coalition to that conference in the electorate of Maranoa. Can I say that the comment from regional tourism operators at that conference was to express dismay at the lack of support that they are receiving from this government.

The motion refers to support for northern Australia. Of course, the northern Australia infrastructure fund, which was announced some 18 months ago in the 2015 budget, has not had a single dollar allocated from it—some 18 months; not a single project. Labor announced during the election campaign our plan to allocate $1 billion specifically from that fund for a northern Australia tourism infrastructure fund—supported by people like the now member for Solomon—for projects targeting the expanding Asian tourism market; projects promoting Australia's natural environment, such as the Great Barrier Reef; ecotourism; Indigenous tourism ventures; event-based facilities, including stadium and convention centres; and transport and access upgrades, including for ports and airports. Since the election, I have had three round tables in northern Australia on tourism—in Darwin, in Alice Springs and in Cairns. At each of those meetings—

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be in Western Australia on Sunday and Monday. The fact is that this government has ignored northern Australia. They also have some hide coming in here at a time when, over in the other place, in the Senate they are considering an increase in the backpacker tax and an increase in the passenger movement charge on everyone who comes to and from Australia. It is extraordinary. Here they are, now, arguing with a new tax that will have an increased revenue from their proposition in 2015 that somehow it is going down. It is that sort of Orwellian nonsense that the tourism sector is slamming them over—just like the passenger movement charge, with no consultation with the tourism sector whatsoever.

The fact is that since they announced their backpacker tax changes numbers are down. That is why they have had to revise their position and do a semi-backflip. They may well have to do a fair bit more, because it has been rejected by the agriculture and tourism sectors as simply not doing enough. Tourism is a super-growth sector. It already employs one million Australians. It contributes $107 billion to the Australian economy, and every dollar spent in tourism generates another 92c in other parts of the economy.

We can talk about our tourism policy because during the election campaign we released one, a comprehensive plan for tourism. Those opposite did not release a tourism policy during the 2016 election. Having shown contempt for the sector, in their first term, by refusing to have a tourism minister, by not being able to say what department tourism would be located in, they rubbed it in by having no policy announced. Then, the tourism minister, in his first contribution, described the passenger movement charge as being a golden goose strangling the industry—just before they announced they would increase it. (Time expired)

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on the member for Capricornia's private member's motion highlighting the role Australia's north plays in the country's economy. Developing Australia's north is yet another example of where this Turnbull government has provided leadership and a long-term vision compared with Labor, who did nothing for Australia's north during their six years in office.

The federal government's northern Australia white paper Our North, Our Future was a coalition election commitment and, as members of this chamber have heard me say on many occasions, it is a blueprint for developing Australia's north following years of cheap talk and empty promises by the previous Labor government.

Tourism and hospitality are two of the industry pillars that have enormous potential for growth, as outlined in the white paper, together with food and agribusiness, energy and resources, international education, health care, medical research and aged care. A good tourism sector, however, is reliant upon a good local and backpacker workforce. The $10 million global backpacker boom campaign was launched a fortnight ago by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.

The backpacker boom is a three-year campaign targeting working holiday makers in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy and will lead to making Australia an even better destination to take a working holiday. More than 320,000 people undertook a working holiday in Australia last year, spending around $3 billion in the national economy. We do need Labor to get behind our changes to the backpacker tax—because be it on their head when the fruit rots on the vine.

The federal government's campaign will be of enormous benefit to northern Australia, especially in the north-west, where people from all around the world undertake various jobs, from working in the agricultural and tourism industries in the Pilbara to pouring pints and coffees in the Kimberley. Total visitors to the north-west increased by over eight per cent in 2015, which was an increase by a mammoth 103 per cent in the last three years, according to Tourism Research Australia's national and international visitor surveys. According to the same survey, in the last decade tourists visiting the north-west have increased by 97 per cent—a fantastic effort—and it is with full credit to the small business owners whose staff make the north-west a 'must visit' whilst travelling in Australia.

Tourist spending has increased in the region by 17 per cent in the last 12 months and by 94 per cent over the last three years according to Tourism Research Australia. Karijini National Park, the Bungle Bungle's and Wolf Creek Crater are some of the world-class natural landscapes in the north-west. And the small business sector, as you well know, Deputy Speaker Wicks, plays a vital role in the development of tourism in Australia's north.

In my electorate of Durack, nearly 4,000 people are directly employed in the tourism industry, according to the Tourism and Transport Forum, providing tours for tourists and locals of the beautiful natural attractions throughout the Kimberley, Gascoyne and Pilbara and keeping tourists' palate satisfied—fed and watered well. Small businesses and their staff are at the forefront of ensuring people have a great experience throughout the region. It is only members on this side of the chamber that understand the importance of small business and that is why we implemented the Jobs and Small Business package, a package which includes a tax deduction for assets up to $20,000. For the new kitchen fit out or for the new pie warmer or for the new vehicle and the like, this is going to be a great boon for those businesses to develop. The federal government will also in turn reduce the small business tax rate down to 27½ per cent for businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million annually.

These economic policies will assist the small business sector in Australia's north and make regions like the Kimberley, the Pilbara and the Gascoyne even greater places to live, to visit and to do business more generally, and the region will become an economic tourist hub of employment for Australians and working holiday makers.

With respect to the backpacker tax, we all want Australians to take Australian jobs. In my electorate of Durack, some 1.7 million square kilometres, there is simply not the local workforce, and I do advocate for welfare reform to ensure that people are not going to be disadvantaged if they come off welfare to take a seasonal job. At the moment fruit is going to rot on the vine, those pints are not going to be poured and those coffees are not going to be made without changes to the backpacker tax regime. I urge the Labor Party to get behind our changes so that we can have a good tourist season in 2017.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Capricornia for moving this private member's motion. I share her love of the north if not her party's pretty much destruction of the tourism market when it comes to working holiday makers and backpackers in the Top End—we have seen a 30 per cent decrease. I have spoken to Western Australian tourism operators and they are not happy at all. I understand that this backpacker tax shemozzle has just been an abysmal attempt to try and rake in some more money but unfortunately the tourism and horticulture industries are really suffering, really hurting. If those opposite do like small business, they might want to negotiate something a bit smarter in the Senate—I digress,

Tourism is incredibly important to the north and that is why this has been so disappointing. In my electorate of Solomon, we have the beautiful city of Darwin, which is the gateway for so many people into the north. We have a strong Aboriginal culture, a magnificent harbour, great fishing, markets, breathtaking sunsets and also the Cage of Death. It would be great to throw whoever designed the backpacker tax without any consultation and without any modelling in there because it has done so much damage. Anyway there is a croc in there called Brutus and he is psychic. If I were as psychic as Brutus, I might look forward and say perhaps what the government has suggested as a fix is a backflip on the backpacker tax. In fact, according to their own advice from Treasury, it will not actually make that much difference. I hope there is still time to come up with a regime that makes sense, that attracts people back to the Top End, because, as I said, a lot of those small businesses are really hurting.

In general, we have had an increase of tourism numbers to the Top End, which has been great. Working holiday-makers have stayed way but, in general, domestic tourism is looking good. However, we always need to attract more people to the Top End, because it is becoming a more and more important part of our economy. We have got a big gas project, the Inpex project, in the Top End. As we come out of the construction phase, I think tourism will be one of the shining lights, so I hope we can get something that is going to work better for working holiday-makers, because there is fruit that needs to be picked and pints and coffees to be poured. It is becoming more and more difficult for tourism operators in the Top End. We are missing out on money in our economy.

The Turnbull government talks a lot about assisting small business and the importance of the tourism industry for northern Australia but, unfortunately, it is failing spectacularly in this area. There has been no consideration and not enough consultation—in fact, just before I came in here to make a contribution, I had a phone call from someone involved in the aviation industry. They are still shaking their head over the passenger movement charge and about the fact that everyone flying out of Australia after a holiday is going to be charged more. They are desperately wanting some common sense and wanting the tourism minister to do his job. But, unfortunately, in the other chamber, at the end of the question time, the tourism minister got to his feet to make some pathetic point about unions or something. I have not really heard him make a worthwhile contribution on the tourism sector since I have been here—and I have not been here for that long—but I would have thought that he would have been a little more focused on his day job.

Whilst the National Farmers Federation is coming out and doing the right thing by the National Party, in the tourism industry, no-one is impressed with this backflip on the backpacker tax. So let's hope that we can see some smart thinking in the Senate and we get, as I said, a backpacker tax rate that will get people to come back to the Top End.

Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have pleasure in supporting the member for Capricornia's motion on northern Australia tourism development. Since coming to power in 2013, the coalition has been passionately committed to developing the economies of northern Australia. There are a number of industries with obvious advantages in the current economic climate. With the Australian dollar for the first time in many years being at a competitive level, export industries like agriculture, tourism and mining will come to the fore. Agriculture and tourism have been identified as the next super growth industries. Recent record cattle prices are evidence of this.

As tourism has increased in global competitiveness, investment is beginning to pour into the north. In my electorate of Flynn, we have entrepreneurs ready to take advantage of the weak dollar by developing high-quality resorts in breathtaking locations ready for the next influx of Chinese, Japanese or global tourists.

We already have a world-class destination in the southern Great Barrier Reef. P&O's tourist boats are now regular callers at the Gladstone docks. We have Heron Island, which is great for overseas tourists; Lady Musgrave Island—again, overseas tourists with a sprinkling of Australian tourists; and a proposed new resort at Hummock Hill, 30 kilometres south of Gladstone—that is a billion dollar investment by Australian investors.

I can see the next tourism boom being similar to that of the 1980s with Australia back at No. 1 as a personal place to visit. This will only be possible if our infrastructure is up to date.

That is why we are getting on with the job of improving our transport network. We are fixing the Bruce Highway, the most important transport route in Queensland. More than 5,000 motorists use the highway between Gladstone and Rockhampton each day. $170 million was spent on the Yeppen project, south of Rockhampton, and a further investment will be made in the near future.

We are spending $32 million on the Bruce Highway between Midgee and Bajool, making it safer, with new services, better turning lanes and wider centre lines. These projects are part of the long-term vision for the Bruce Highway—Brisbane to Cairns—that will see it a modern, safe highway capable of handling increased traffic brought on by the growth in agriculture and tourism alike.

We are helping tourists experience the interior as well, with the $750 million being spent on the Capricorn Highway between Rockhampton and Emerald. This will allow for safer travel between Rockhampton and Gracemere, with dual carriageways between Gracemere and Rockie, and Gracemere to Emerald, with six new overtaking lanes. From Emerald, tourists can travel around the central highlands, to the unique Sandstone Belt national park attractions: Blackdown tablelands, Carnarvon Gorge and Salvator Rosa. Or they can visit the gem fields, including the quaint townships of Anakie, Sapphire, Rubyvale and The Willows. These places produce some of the best gemstones—sapphires, in other words—in the world. At the gem fields, tourists can choose to fossick for gems themselves or visit a local mine, walk through underground sapphire mines, and enjoy the hospitality of the local people.

This better, safer transport network will not only handle an increase in local and overseas tourists; it will help promote and draw visitors to northern Australia. Northern Australia is a truly wonderful tourist destination.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My mate the member for Solomon is leaving this chamber as I speak. I am going to say a few words about him. Just you go—all right.

Mr O'Dowd interjecting—

They are all good words. I want to thank him for his contribution. He does speak of matters that need to be addressed in this place. I will not dwell too much on what he said, except to make the point about the passenger movement charge. Clearly, we have had nothing from the Commonwealth to explain to us what they think the impact of this increase in the passenger movement charge will end up being in terms of its impact on tourism visitation. That is a key issue for us in the north of Australia, but in the Northern Territory most particularly, because tourism provides 8.1 per cent of the Northern Territory's employment and 4.5 per cent of our gross state product.

The GSP percentage is the highest of all states. It is only 1.7 per cent in Western Australia and 4.3 per cent in Tasmania. We rely on tourism in terms of our gross state product more than any other state or territory. So when you fiddle with things like passenger movement charges, it has the potential to impact us more than other places.

In 2014-15, visitors spent $1.85 billion in the Northern Territory. In 2014-15, again, international spending grew by 18 per cent to $460 million and domestic spending grew by 3.4 per cent to $1.4 billion. 11.1 per cent of all Territorians in the workforce work in the tourism industry—that is an extremely significant number—compared with the national average of 8.1 per cent across other jurisdictions. Just to emphasise again the comparative importance of tourism to the Northern Territory: almost one in five young tourists who come to Australia visit the Northern Territory, and in 2014 the Northern Territory was the destination of choice for 15.9 per cent of international overnight visitors. Given the size of the Northern Territory, in terms of the population not the landmass, that is a significant number. It is because of the iconic destinations that we have: Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu, both in my electorate, both tourism destinations of renown and both World Heritage areas. But, significantly, tourism visitation to those places has dropped off greatly since 2004-05.

There has been strong growth over the last five years, but the numbers are still down from what they were in 2004. Between 2004 and 2014, total visitor numbers to Uluru fell by 20 per cent. That has a significant impact on the local and regional economies of these places and it impacts directly on the potential for income to be earned by Aboriginal people, the traditional owners of this country, who have a key stake in the tourism industry. In 2013-14 international visitors visiting Uluru numbered 142,000. That is a significant drop from the 200,000-plus visitors in 2008.

This raises significant questions. The federal government is responsible for Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu. If there is a decrease in tourism visitation to those areas, there is obviously an opportunity for the Commonwealth to see what it can do by way of investment to increase the potential for tourism visitation. But we know what they have done. They increased park entry fees in 2016 by 60 per cent. An adult ticket to enter Uluru-Kata Tjuta or Kakadu is now $40. That is potentially a massive disincentive for people in the tourism industry to market these destinations to overseas visitors. It is a cause of great concern when we know that the tourism industry is so important to the Northern Territory economy.

We need to do a lot better and we need to do a lot more. But it requires the Commonwealth to focus on its main job, and that is to promote the tourism industry across Australia, but particularly in the north, and address the issues that need to be addressed in the management and operation of the Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta national parks if we are going to make a difference and encourage more tourists to come along.

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to be here to support the member for Capricornia's motion, because it goes to the heart of one of the government's strengths, and that is supporting the economy and ensuring that we have jobs and growth in one of our key industries in this country. But, before I address the specifics of her motion, I feel obliged to address some of the furphies coming from the other side over the last 15 or 20 minutes, with the shadow minister, the member for Grayndler, leading the charge.

There is no such thing as a 'minister for gunna' but, if there were, I think this government would let go of any ministerial rights and give the shadow minister for infrastructure and tourism, the member for Grayndler, that gong, because he is a gunna. We heard it from him a few weeks ago with respect to infrastructure and again we hear it today with tourism. The basis of the argument from Labor is, 'We were gunna do this,' 'We were gunna do that,' 'We were gunna support,' 'We were gunna spend money.' But the facts do not play it out. They are nothing but gunnas.

The reality is that Labor cut Tourism Australia. The coalition committed $639 million for international marketing. It is the coalition that is delivering. Labor's carbon tax slugged the tourism industry—wait for it—$115 million and that was just in year one alone. They want to talk about infrastructure for tourism, and yet the shadow minister himself committed only $4.1 billion to the Bruce Highway—the most important piece of domestic infrastructure in Queensland—compared to the coalition's $6.7 billion. Yet he consistently tries to take claim, because they refused to meet the 80-20 funding requirement from the Queensland state government. Even in my neck of the woods, the Sunshine Coast, it is the coalition that has invested the money. Over $1 billion will be spent on the Bruce Highway on the Sunshine Coast, which is, not unlike the north of Queensland, a tourism mecca. That will be spent in the next few years, and, yes, that will be delivered by a coalition government.

As for the backpacker tax, which, again, is something that the opposition seems to harp on, it is very simple. The backpacker tax proposal is really now in the hands of the Labor Party. It is 32½ per cent. It can drop to 19 per cent as soon as the members opposite support the bill. They do not know if they support the bill. Instead, they are taking their time to try to talk about it. They are not even in government; they are in opposition and they still cannot be decisive on their position. Here we are with not just tourism but agriculture—key industries that drive our economy—and the Labor Party are holding them to ransom. If we do have fruit that rots on the vine, we know who we are going to be looking to, and that is the Labor Party. The 32.5 per cent can drop down to 19 per cent if they take action, but they refuse to take action, because they are the 'gunna' party. We were gunna do this; we were gunna do that. It is time to take action.

With all of the downtrodden stories from Labor about the tourism sector, let me read some terrific statistics about the Sunshine Coast, in which the seat of Fairfax is situated. Domestic visitor numbers last financial year were at their highest level—3.1 million—since before the GFC. How good is that? The year-on-year growth rate among domestic travellers on the Sunshine Coast was a very strong 7.8 per cent. The growth in overseas visitors was 3.5 per cent. The good thing is that not only are more and more people coming but they are staying longer and they are spending more money. This is a vital area for Queensland's economy.

There is an old rule, and it applies to business as much as it applies to countries or regions: when you want to grow your economy, the No. 1 thing you need to do is protect and leverage your core. As an Australian, and indeed as a Queenslander, I say that we have a few cores. We have the resource sector, we have the agrisector and we have the tourism sector. What we see in the coalition's suite of policies is a staunch defence and promotion of our core of tourism, and that is the reason I stand here today in vigorous support of this motion.

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have got to tell you: some people have a lot of nerve. When I read about this motion on the papers, I thought: 'The member for Capricornia is having a lend of us. She is taking all of us for mugs.' I think that Australians are pretty sick of that. This is the government that, in its 2015-16 budget papers in May last year, took the tax rate for backpackers from zero to 32½ per cent from the first dollar of income. That is what this government did. This government can stand up all it likes and try to pretend that it is the voice of tourism, that it stands up for tourism, but what actually happened last year was the government introduced the backpacker tax.

I spoke at the Adventure Travel and Backpacker Industry Conference in November last year. I was there representing Anthony Albanese, the shadow minister for tourism. Needless to say, the people in that room were not happy with this coalition government and its new backpacker tax. There was a lot of anger in the room from the many small businesses that were there representing the backpacker industry and the adventure tourism sector. They were very unhappy about this government's decision to impose taxation on backpackers in what was just a naked grab for revenue—a $540 million tax grab. These are the small businesses that make up the tourism sector. There are 270,000 businesses in the tourism sector in Australia, and they are mostly small businesses. They do not have a lot of power; they do not have a voice at the table in the same way that some other industries and some other firms do. But they are very clear. They know when they are getting rolled and they know when they are getting treated with contempt. That is what this government did to the tourism sector last year. To now stand up and pretend that it is up to Labor to clean up the mess that it made is deeply disingenuous and wrong.

Such was the outcry from the tourism sector about this outrageous decision they made to push up the backpacker tax to 32½ per cent that they finally gave it a rethink, but it was not until 18 months after they first announced the backpacker tax that they announced their proposed compromise. On 27 September this year they announced a compromise to allow the backpacker tax to be 19 per cent for every single dollar of income earned up to $37,000. They wanted to take their increase from zero per cent to 32½ per cent. They now want to take it back down to 19 per cent and are pointing the finger at us and saying, 'Why hasn't Labor fixed our mess yet?' It is incredibly rude behaviour, and it is rude not only to the members of this parliament but to the members of the Australian public whom they are treating with contempt and disrespect, and whose intelligence they are insulting.

But Australians are not going to fall for it. Australians are not silly. The member for Flynn and the member for Capricornia can stand up and pretend all they like that they have been the great defenders of tourism in this place, but people in their electorates are going to know that they supported the government's move to impose the backpacker tax. Not only that; even with this so-called compromise proposal that brings it down to 19 per cent—still much higher than neighbouring countries, still much higher than the zero per cent that it was before May last year—they are going to point the finger at us and claim that it is our fault and say that we should fix their problem.

There is another kick in it for the tourism industry. It is not enough for this government that they imposed the backpacker tax back in last year's budget papers. It is not enough for this government that their 18-months-later compromise proposal only brings it down to 19 per cent—much higher than neighbouring countries and much higher than the zero per cent it was. They also want to increase the departure tax for tourism. They also want to slug tourism operators, they want to slug our tourism sector, with an increase in the departure tax. It is a tax on tourism, and the worst thing about it is that the Treasurer knows very well what he is doing, because he has opposed this measure being increased in the past.

Needless to say, the transport and tourism forum, local tourism operators and local tourism interest groups are up in arms about this proposal to increase the tourism tax. Next time the member for Capricornia is drafting motions, she might want to think about coming in here and pretending to have been a defender of tourism at the same time as she is supporting a government that has slugged tourism, has slugged tourism again and is now slugging tourism a third time. It is going to look pretty silly to the people back in the electorate because, no matter what she might think of them, no matter how much she might disrespect her constituents, they are not mugs. She can try to take them for mugs as much as she likes, but they are not mugs. They know what is going on with this government. They know this is a tax on tourism and they are not going to stand for it come the next election.

Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When we start talking about tourism, I have to say it is something that I have a little bit of an understanding of, given that my seat is recognised as the largest employer, economically, in the country. My little corner of Australia is certainly punching well above its weight. In early June the Cairns Airport celebrated receiving its five millionth passenger in a 12-month period—the first time ever. The latest figures from Tourism Research Australia show that more than two million domestic tourists came to Tropical North Queensland and spent $2.279 billion in the last 12 months. Visitor numbers have increased by 14 per cent from the previous year, while spending grew by 24 per cent and visitor nights were up by 16 per cent. The growth of domestic and international visitors in my region outstripped that of both Queensland and Australia for 2015-16.

At the TTNQ AGM in late October, CEO Alex de Waal said tourism was fuelling the tremendous momentum of positive community sentiment in Tropical North Queensland, and tourism continues to drive local jobs and economic growth. It is fantastic that people are choosing our beautiful region to visit and spend their money in, but it does not happen on its own. It is because of the hard work of so many people in the tourism industry who make visitor experiences unforgettable—the airline staff, taxi and shuttle bus drivers, hotel receptionists, restaurant wait staff, reef boat cruise operators, cleaners, booking agents, car hire staff, bar staff, retail assistants and the list goes on and on.

It is also those at the top of their field who drive tourism development and investment and ensure that we have a broad range of offerings for our visitors. I would like to take the opportunity to mention a few of the highly respected, innovative and dedicated tourism leaders in Leichhardt who were recognised in the recent Tropical North Queensland tourism industry excellence awards celebration. CaPTA Group chairman, Charles Woodward, was recognised as a life member; long-term hotelier Peter Blackburn was also recognised as a life member; Skyrail Rainforest Cableway director, Ken Chapman, won the award for outstanding contribution as an individual; Mossman Gorge Centre general manager, Ben Pratt, won the award for young achiever excellence; Cathay Pacific, which is one of the international airlines flying into Cairns, won the chairman's award for excellence; and the Big 4 Atherton Woodlands Tourist Park won the award for innovation excellence in tropical north Queensland.

Notionally, Leichhardt is the electorate most highly dependent on tourism, which is responsible for 20 per cent of its employment and 20 per cent of its economic output. People say that we need to diversify away from tourism, but I think we need to recognise that other industries actually rely very heavily on tourism and get very significant benefits from tourism. In fact, tourism is very much an enabler in our community and is a base for most of the other industries that we see, whether it be the fishing industry, agriculture, aviation or even our maritime sustainment and maintenance industry. All of those feed very much into the tourism industry. It would have a big impact if we were to lose the servicing for the reef tourism fleet, which is the largest in the country. We also have education tourism, which is becoming a major opportunity in our area. Tropical sports conditioning is another area that I have been working on very closely, and the list goes on.

According to QTIC, the benefits of a strong tourism industry are considerable. Far more than just a fleeting holiday season phenomenon, tourism can drive a whole lot of opportunities, including employment right across all sectors of the community and business—investment, boosting real estate values, international and domestic educational facilities, business activity, stimulating exports. It creates skills and expertise across a wide range of sectors. It also creates a very livable community for our locals, and I have certainly ascertained that this has happened in my communities. I certainly commend this motion to the House.

Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to enter the debate on the motion moved by the member for Capricornia and note that it is exactly the same motion moved in the parliament by the former member for Solomon last year. So, just like most things that this government does, it is not really an original idea, it is just another recycled measure. It is too lazy to come up with any new initiatives. But I do find it interesting that members of the government somehow want to be congratulated for their efforts for the tourism sector in Australia. In remarks today, particularly those regarding the northern Australian economy, we have heard the member for Leichhardt want praise for his government's achievements, but what he does not reflect on are the cuts that have happened. I invite the member for Leichhardt to stay to listen and learn a little bit about exactly what his government has done under his watch, apart from cancelling all funding for domestic tourism marketing, withdrawing our membership for organisations such as the United Nations World Tourism organization and scrapping tourism grants.

You want to be congratulated for those efforts. The operators in your home town do not think it is great to scrap tourism grants. One thing that is left out of this motion today is certainty. We know that, as a result of this government's economic settings and their decisions—particularly around the backpacker tax—which those opposite are pretending are in isolation, this motion is somehow not connected to what is happening in that sector in regions like Cairns and Far North Queensland. Last month, an expert from the industry said:

We have got such bad publicity out there at the moment about this backpacker tax, a lesser rate would have maybe made it more attractive to people who have already booked their flights to New Zealand or to Canada.

And:

That reputation, I really have no idea how long it's going to take us to rebuild that …

No wonder the member for Leichhardt has escaped the chamber today—he does not want to hear the facts. Representing a region like Cairns, in Far North Queensland, one would think that he would be defending the new tourism tax that those opposite are so keen to introduce. Today we saw the Tourism and Transport Forum release their findings and study into what the impact of this new tourism tax will mean. I quote from the TTF:

The Federal Government included the proposed increase in the holiday tax—without any consultation or forewarning to industry—as part of its revised backpacker tax package.

According to their research, a paltry three per cent of people support any further increases in the holiday tax, with 29 per cent supporting a lower rate and 19 per cent saying it should be abolished entirely.

So what are the experts saying about this? In the field, what are the tourism operators saying? Today, the TTF CEO said:

… the Federal Government should simply scrap its decision to increase the holiday tax on travellers and instead work with industry to make Australia a more competitive destination for visitors.

I remind the chamber that the tourism industry of tropical North Queensland is worth a whopping $4.7 billion to the local North Queensland economy and supports more than 23½ thousand jobs. We hear a lot of lectures from that side about lower taxes, but when they come to Canberra, when the rubber hits the road, what do we find? We see increases in taxation. So I, like the industry, do not support an increase in the passenger movement levy. I quote from the TTF CEO:

You don't have to be Einstein to work out that if you want to encourage more people to visit your country you should be reducing the cost of travel not adding to it by hiking the Federal Government's holiday tax.

There were not a lot of lectures today from the government about the tourism industry, because what we are looking at right here—this week and next week in the Senate—is a massive, new, tourism tax introduced by this government. I stand by the operators in Queensland and say no to the government's new tourism tax.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.