John Brumby: ‘Contactless’ visitor economy can get Victoria going again

Victoria’s huge tourism sector — more than 220,000 international students and 3 million visitors each year — has ground to a halt. But a “contactless” visitor economy is one key way to get Victoria back on track, writes John Brumby.

Victoria needs to get its huge visitor economy going again, says John Brumby. Picture: Getty Images

COVID-19 has hit us hard, but I believe Victoria has all the ingredients for a successful recovery.

We are a diverse, resourceful and highly skilled population, with strong institutions and an adaptable, innovative business community.

And as the overwhelming public support for the lockdown has shown, we also have a willingness to work together for the common good.

The challenge now is to find new ways to stimulate the economy and create jobs while at the same time making Victoria an even better place to live.

Let me highlight five priority areas.

THE NORTH AND WEST CITY DEAL

There can be no state revival — and no true national economic recovery — without recovery in the north and west of Melbourne, where a third of Victorians live.

The recently released North and West City Deal is an ambitious project covering 13 local council areas from Sunshine to Hume, involving dozens of major projects from new freight terminals to employment precincts, hospitals and rail upgrades, as well as La Trobe University’s City of the Future plan.

The Federal and State Governments need to work together to implement the Deal, which would create 300,000 new jobs and give a much-needed boost to parts of our State hit hardest by COVID-19.

There can be no state revival without the recovery in the north and west of Melbourne.

THE ‘CONTACTLESS’ VISITOR ECONOMY

Though many Victorians don’t know it, international education is our state’s biggest export industry.

Combine the more than 220,000 international students that come each year with 3 million tourists and we’re talking about a huge visitor economy — and one that has virtually ground to a halt.

We urgently need to get visitors back, but for this to happen they need to know they’ll be safe, and Victorians need to know we’ll be safe too.

Thanks to Australia’s solid handling of the COVID crisis, I believe we’ll be a drawcard for visitors in the future. But health and safety is paramount. Victoria should emulate what Singapore has done to build a ‘contactless’ visitor pathway.

In Singapore they use proximity sensors instead of touchscreens at airports; biometric face recognition instead of paper passport checking; and mobile phone apps instead of tickets for tourist attractions.

You can travel from the plane to the hotel and then visit a tourist attraction without actually touching anything.

We will need to make sure that from the moment a visitor touches down at Tullamarine they can feel confident moving around and enjoying themselves in Victoria without fear of illness or infection.

The longer people are out of work, the harder it is to get back in. Picture: NCA NewsWire

HELP THE LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED

We know that every recession leaves a long tail of unemployment. When the economic tide rises, as it surely will, many people will still be left behind — and the longer people are out of work, the harder it is to get back in.

In the mid-1980s the Hawke Government introduced a brilliant Community Employment Program, which provided six month work placements for people who had been out of work for six months or longer.

The program was run through Local Governments and included revegetation programs, tree planting, construction and maintenance of walking and bike paths, weed removal in National Parks, restoration and maintenance of historic buildings, and much more.

Participants regained skills, income and dignity — and communities benefited from new and better facilities.

John Brumby. Picture: Supplied

BUILD BACK CLEANER

The Clean Energy Council has shown how we can bring forward a pipeline of wind and solar projects across Australia, creating over 50,000 direct jobs and tripling the amount of large-scale renewable energy in the country.

The Andrews Government has already invested a huge amount to get over one million Victorian homes powered by solar energy by the end of the decade.

Given the COVID crisis, we now need two things more than ever: economic stimulus and cheap new sustainable energy to power the recovery.

An increased investment in renewables would tick both boxes. New programs should also be targeted to help businesses such as those in the Dairy industry to retrofit buildings and install solar to drive down energy costs.

BUILD BACK SMARTER

Bricks and mortar are important, but the key to Victoria’s long term economic success lies in science, technology and innovation.

The Victorian Government should create a new, $1 billion fund to support scientific, digital and biomedical research and translation across industry, universities and medical research institutes. The big investments Steve Bracks and I made in science and medical research between 2000 and 2010 lifted our State to be among the very best in the world.

We can do it again. A Billion Dollar Breakthrough Fund over three years would power world-leading research not only in infectious diseases but also in the many other diseases that await new breakthroughs, from cancer to diabetes, neurological disorders and heart disease.

This will not only make Victoria more prosperous, but also a healthier place to live — a double winner.

If we take these five steps, and continue to work together, I believe Victoria can build back better, healthier, cleaner, smarter and fairer.

The Hon. John Brumby AO was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010 and Chancellor of La Trobe University

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