Border confusion ‘crippling tourism’

The tourism sector has warned the Morrison government’s failure to set dates to vaccinate is ‘devastating’ the COVID-19 recovery

As the sun sets, Chris Pasfield and wife Tiana Hawkins take in the sweeping views on the Sky Walk at the Sydney Tower Eye on Monday. Picture: John Feder

The tourism sector has warned the Morrison government’s failure to set dates to vaccinate and reopen the country is “devastating” the COVID-19 recovery, as it uses budget day to demand an emergency $854m JobKeeper-style scheme to support 71,000 of the worst-affected workers.

As the government was lashed over its “confusing” plan to lift the international border, peak body the Tourism and Transport Forum was briefing the offices of Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg and Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan on a $1.8bn proposal to help the sector survive into next year.

The 13 budget recommendations included a six-month, $854m wage-subsidy program mirroring JobKeeper, with employees in businesses with a turnover reduction of 50 per cent or more paid $1000 fortnightly until September.

It also proposes tax rebates for Australians choosing to spend more than $1000 on holiday activities or companies encouraging employees to travel for work.

The JobKeeper replacement program is estimated to assist more than 22,000 businesses with about 71,000 employees.

The push for funding comes as Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said Australians should not expect any major movement on the international border “until into next year and probably some distance into next year”.

But Health Minister Greg Hunt insisted travel should “absolutely” be considered an incentive to get vaccinated.

The Prime Minister said on the weekend the international border would only open “when it is safe to do so” after he pledged to take a cautious approach.

“It’s not helpful to have a whole lot of different comments with different time frames and dates and different priorities around them in terms of when we’ll reopen to the rest of the world,” TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said.

“It’s devastating from a lack of certainty point of view. We understand health must be the No 1 priority but what we need is some certainty around dates as far as possible. National cabinet needs to come up with a set series of dates so restrictions and border requirements can be lifted against the vaccination process.”

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is preparing to release a four-stage plan to reopen the nation that would allow vaccinated Australians to travel to medium-risk countries once at least 80 per cent of the most vulnerable – essential workers and people aged 70 and over – were immunised.

On their return home, quarantine periods would be reduced or travellers may only have to self-isolate until they received a negative COVID-19 test. There would be no quarantine restrictions for travellers arriving from low-risk countries such as New Zealand.

Vaccinated overseas visitors and migrants from low to medium-risk countries would undergo the same quarantine measures.

Once 80 per cent of over-50s were vaccinated, there would be no quarantine for people arriving from medium-risk countries. Australia would be completely open when 80 per cent of the population aged 16 and over had been immunised.

“The community, at the moment, is saying ‘The economy is going great so why should we rush to reopen?’ The economy is going great on the back of enormous stimulus by government. That won’t be the there forever,” ACCI’s acting chief executive Jenny Lambert said.

“The most important thing is we see a plan. Australia is an open economy, it needs trade, it needs important industries like international education and tourism and a lot of providing services has to be done by physically travelling.”

ACCI’s reopening plan has been canvassed with Treasury, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

With international borders closed, Chris Pasfield, 26, bought his wife, Tiana Hawkins, 24, a Skywalk tour at the Sydney Tower Eye for Christmas and the Coogee couple managed to book in to watch the sunset over the city on Monday night. Ms Hawkins said they had been trying to find different activities to do during the pandemic.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve done, which makes it so cool. It’s nice to be able to do it now in the middle of the year when things are settling down a bit,” she said.

Rob Smith, the Asia-Pacific divisional director of Merlin Entertainments, which runs Skywalk, said a high proportion of visitors were from overseas or interstate and trading conditions were “very tough”.

“With the prospect of international tourists not arriving on Australian shores until at least the end of the next northern winter, the future of our tourism sector certainly looks challenging,” he said.

“Longer-term border closures and ongoing uncertainty present continual risk to the sector, and it is certainly going to be a difficult 12 months, or more, ahead.”

Australia has surpassed 2.6 million vaccinations after achieving 400,000 injections in a week for the first time. Anthony Albanese said the government’s two jobs were to get vaccination and hotel quarantine right so the economy could open up.

“Yesterday, the headlines in all the papers that people would have seen was ‘Doors slam shut’. This morning, it’s ‘Doors are about to open’. So it’s very confusing,” the Opposition Leader told 2GB radio on Monday.

While Mr Hunt has previously said a 100 per cent vaccination rate would not guarantee the international border reopening, he encouraged Australians to get vaccinated on Monday so they could travel.

A three-step road map being worked on by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Philip Gaetjens and his state counterparts, which will be recommended to national cabinet, includes new travel bubbles, consideration of the vaccination rollout and greater travel for those who have been immunised.

“The circumstances of that will be determined by the global medical evidence. We know that there’s near universal prevention of serious illness, hospitalisation and loss of life. We know there is a high prevention of infection and retransmission, but clearly not universal,” Mr Hunt said.

“We’ll provide next steps as we have the medical evidence and advice.”