One year on and still toughing it out
COVID-19
It’s just gone one year since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Australia was identified on 25 January 2020, in Victoria, when a man who had returned from Wuhan, China, tested positive for the virus.
No one is immune to the deadly virus and the past 12 months has seen business on its knees, a sharp rise in unemployment, among numerous other factors that resulted in moving from a normal existence to one of abnormality.
With an unknown future – there have been predictions this will last until 2025 – it’s no surprise the Queensland State Government, industry leaders and tourism operators have appealed to the Federal Government not to cease JobKeeper in March.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on the Morrison government to extend JobKeeper for the struggling Queensland tourism industry after closing the state's border to New South Wales during most of the Christmas holidays.
“We really need the federal government to think about extending JobKeeper for these industries that are doing it tough,” Ms Palaszczuk said during a press conference in Cairns.
And Tara Bennett, TPDD’s CEO, who attended a meeting of tourism operators in Cairns this week, to discuss the industry’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, sent a strong message regarding JobKeeper. The Cairns meeting was chaired by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“The FNQ tourism industry sent a strong message to the Premier on the unique challenges our region is facing. The clear message was we require different thinking for Far North Queensland as our situation is vastly different to that of regional areas close to capital cities,” said Bennett.
Key topics:
- Lobbying the federal government for the continuation of a program similar to Job Keeper providing targeted support to industries and regions affected
- Consistency in state handling of border issues to increase interstate travel confidence,
- Long-term sustainable funding for destination tourism management, aviation
- Voucher schemes to stimulate travel during the shoulder
- The continuation of business support measures.”
Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr, meanwhile, said he was encouraged that the Premier had visited Cairns.
“It’s great that the Premier is in Cairns again and wonderful that she is promoting our surrounding region, and highlighting the struggles of some of the prominent tourism businesses.
“A premier’s visit can do wonders to the economic confidence of a region and highlights the issues that may be in play for that location.”
“However, as we all know we are not Cairns and it would also be wonderful to have her visit our shire, our struggling businesses and see first-hand the many empty shops and closed businesses in our townships.
“Douglas as an entire region has suffered immensely during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly the worst in Queensland and having the opportunity for the Premier to visit here so we can discuss Douglas issues as well, would be a welcome influence to our shires recovery process,” said Kerr.
Many observers in the tourism industry, who would prefer not to pre-empt anything at this stage, will be looking for solid action following the Cairns meeting.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).