Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the Christmas break I was contacted by numerous travel agents who were extremely appreciative of the government's $128 million support package for the travel industry. Having said that, some of them identified an anomaly that had arisen through the ATO processing whereby many of them were submitting under TTV, the total ticket value, and some were submitting under the turnover. What that did was create a disparity or an inequity between the two. Some were receiving greater payments than others. I've raised this issue with the minister. We've discussed that, and we will continue to work with AFTA and the department to ensure that all travel agents receive their fair share of that $128 million.

In addition, these businesses, 60 per cent of which are rural and regional businesses, and these 40,000 people in our travel industry, 80 per cent of whom are women, have supported our industry and supported our people over the past 12 months. I call on our side, as the other side has today, to consider an industry support package over the next 12 months to ensure their viability.