Revealed: Which Gold Coast suburbs will lose $35 million from JobKeeper cuts
Almost 40,000 Gold Coast workers are at risk of losing a huge portion of their income. SEE THE SUBURBS WORST AFFECTED
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NEW data shows why cutting JobKeeper will hit the Gold Coast the worst, wiping out almost $35 million each fortnight from the economy.
Research released by Federal Rankin MP and Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirms 36,068 Coast workers and 11,720 businesses will have JobKeeper cut on Sunday, March 28.
The loss will be $34.8 million a fortnight or $17.4 million a week from the economy.
The worst impacted area is the electorate of Moncrieff, covering Miami to The Spit and west to Nerang and Worongary, including Surfers Paradise and Southport.
About 11,590 workers and 3766 businesses will be affected, losing $11.2 million a fortnight or $5.6 million a week in what is the second highest amount of JobKeeper in Queensland.
McPherson is the third highest electorate with 9744 workers and 3166 businesses, amounting to $9.4 million a fortnight or $4.7 million a week.
The Coast’s most southern federal electorate covers Coolangatta north to Clear Island Waters and Merrimac, and west to Mudgeeraba and Tallebudgera Valley.
The city’s northern electorate of Fadden, which stretches from Labrador to Hope Island and north to Ormeau, has the fourth highest JobKeeper payments in the state.
About 18,968 workers and 2914 businesses are set to lose $8.7m a fortnight or $4.3m a week.
Mr Chalmers told the Bulletin: “Cutting JobKeeper will cut Gold Coast jobs. It’s that simple. For 100,000 workers, the Morrison government’s JobKeeper cuts will be a ticket to unemployment, not recovery.
“The Morrison government is rolling out vaccines too slowly, and pulling JobKeeper support from the Gold Coast economy too quickly. Both of those things will have consequences for Gold Coast jobs.
“Getting either the vaccine rollout or economic response wrong is damaging, but getting both wrong simultaneously, could be damaging to the Gold Coast’s recovery.”
Environment Minister and Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon has issued a final plea to the Prime Minister and the Coast’s federal members to extend JobKeeper.
Ms Scanlon said concerned Gold Coasters should write to their local federal member of Parliament if they want to see JobKeeper extended for the tourism industry.
“In just hours, JobKeeper will end, leaving thousands of local workers fearful of losing their jobs,” she said.
“I’m urging the Prime Minister, the federal members for Fadden, Moncrieff, Forde and McPherson to reconsider. Extend JobKeeper and save thousands of jobs. Our tourism industry is absolutely vital to the Gold Coast economy.
“These businesses rely on international tourism to stay afloat. To cut JobKeeper before they have a chance to rebuild is just cruel.”
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe urged the federal government to extend JobKeeper support to struggling tourism operators until it was safe to welcome international tourists back to Queensland.
“Thousands of tourism businesses throughout regional Queensland rely on international tourism,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“Axing JobKeeper while the international border remains closed — keeping Australians COVID-safe — has a disproportionate effect on small operators and workers in Queensland’s tourism industry.
‘It’s not too late’: Desperate plea to save Coast jobs
15 March 2021
QUEENSLAND Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned thousands on the Gold Coast could lose their jobs in a desperate plea to PM Scott Morrison for a JobKeeper extension.
The last-ditch plea follows revelations almost 40,000 tourism operators across the state are predicted to go to the wall when the payment scheme ends on March 28.
The Premier urged Scott Morrison to extend support to tourism operators in communities reliant on international tourism like the Gold Coast.
“It’s not too late for the Prime Minister to do the right thing,” she said.
“The Commonwealth have made it clear – it won’t be safe to reopen our international borders until at least the middle of next year.
“Without more targeted support for our tourism industry, we’ll see thousands of jobs lost in Cairns, the Whitsundays and the Gold Coast.
“The (half-price flights) announced last week (is) not enough and it won’t go to those who are most in need. It won’t help the small, mum and dad businesses that are some of our biggest employers here in Queensland.
“The message is clear and simple. It’s not too late – extend JobKeeper now.”
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Queensland MPs last week blasted a half-price ticket scheme announced by the Federal Government as “half-baked” and accused it of ignoring struggling tourism destinations in favour of marginal LNP seats.
Gold Coast city leaders yesterday issued a plea for more support for the city’s hard hit tourism industry.
Among them was Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, who was forced to concede his calls had likely fallen on deaf ears.
“I sense the decision has been struck at a federal level with the JobKeeper support almost certain to end in a few weeks,” he said.
“My message to every Gold Coaster is this: spend locally.”
EARLIER:
POLITICAL and business leaders are pleading with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to step in and save struggling Gold Coast businesses as the end of the JobKeeper looms.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is preparing a last-ditch plea to the Prime Minister to save an estimated 25,000 jobs in the Sunshine State, which is tipped to lose more than $80 million a week.
Almost a quarter of Queensland’s 40,000 tourism operators are predicted to go to the wall in the months following the removal of the JobKeeper lifeline, which could have dire consequences for the Queenslanders employed by businesses starved of visitors from overseas and interstate.
JobKeeper: Gold Coast suburbs most dependant on wage subsidy
According to figures from the Australian Taxation Office, more than 172,000 Queenslanders stand to lose their JobKeeper payments from March 28, in a move which will see about $83 million a week cut from the Queensland economy.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has long called for Mr Morrison to extend the wage subsidy until the end of the financial year, warning the city's tourism industry would face a difficult transition heading into the traditionally quiet winter months.
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Cr Tate conceded his calls had likely fallen on deaf ears and urged locals to back struggling tourism businesses.
“I sense the decision has been struck at a federal level with the JobKeeper support almost certain to end in a few weeks,” he said.
“My message to every Gold Coaster is this: spend locally:
“Shop locally, dine out, holiday at home and get out and about and enjoy our theme parks, hotels, local tourist attractions, nature experiences and city experiences.
“There’s 660,000 of us so if we all pitch in, local businesses will survive. Gold Coasters are famous for backing their own - let’s do it every day.”
Tourism is responsible for one in nine jobs across Queensland.
Ms Palaszczuk said she would personally lobby Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend JobKeeper as operators warn of ‘standing at a cliff face’ when the scheme is wound up.
“Without more targeted support for our tourism industry, we’ll see thousands of jobs lost in Cairns, the Whitsundays and the Gold Coast,” she said.
“The support the Federal Government announced last week was good – but it’s not enough and it won’t go to those who are most in need.
“It won’t help the small, mum and dad businesses that are some of our biggest employers here in Queensland.
“The message is clear and simple. It’s not too late – extend JobKeeper now.”
Gold Coast tourism leaders are pinning their hopes on the federal government’s recently announced aviation package to help tide the city over as it adjusts to a post-JobKeeper existence.
It was announced last week the Gold Coast would headline a $1.2 billion government tourism and aviation package to encourage domestic travel.
More than 800,000 half-price tickets will be on offer between April 1 and July 31.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said JobKeeper had been a “critical lifeline” for the industry but said the aviation package would go “a long way” to tiding the city over until lucrative overseas visitors return.
“It is going to be a challenge and getting our industry back on its feet will be the focus going forward,” she said.
“Destination Gold Coast will have a strong focus on attracting tourists and Easter is looking solid at the moment.
“We are talking to the State Government about what other campaigns we can roll out through that period and we are watching closely what is happening Cairns with the holiday voucher program and then looking at opportunities to roll that out here too.”
But Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the aviation promotion package would largely benefit airlines.
“Other tourism operators, such as reef tour boats, will struggle to keep their staff on beyond the JobKeeper switch off,” he said.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said the airfare sale designed to encourage more travellers to spread their wings would not see money flow to some of the businesses that need it most.
“It’s JobKeeper for aviation, but we will keep pushing for support for other areas of the tourism industry,” he said.
WHAT STRUGGLING BUSINESSES SAY
THE struggling tourism industry crippled by COVID-19 needs some form of wage subsidy
and continued support from both levels of government as the end of JobKeeper nears, a Gold Coast tourist operator says.
Hot Air Balloon regional manager for the Gold Coast and Cairns, Greg Daven, said there was “some trepidation about how business will look moving forward” post JobKeeper.
The international market contributed to 85 per cent of its business which was effectively lost overnight.
Mr Daven said they were able to “pivot” into the domestic market and he was confident of making a profit once JobKeeper ends.
But he said many industry businesses needed the ongoing support.
“Under the current levels of business that we have with being open to all of Australia now there is light at the end of the tunnel and if we can keep the Queensland borders open that will sustain us during the next 12 months before hopefully some international markets start to kick back in again,” he said.
“Ultimately we’d like to see further support from both the federal government and the state government because the industry and this sector greatly needs it, probably for at least the next 12 months I would say.”
Some form of wage subsidy was still imperative for the tourism sector, as well as continued stimulus packages aimed at getting people on the ground in tourism centres, he said.
Originally published as Revealed: Which Gold Coast suburbs will lose $35 million from JobKeeper cuts
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