Call for Make Yourself At Home travel vouchers to be made available to ‘digitally excluded’ Tasmanians

The Make Yourself At Home travel voucher scheme had an “obvious problem” according to a federal MP who has called for a second round with a “fairer distribution”.

• Premier Peter Gutwein hints at second round of travel vouchers
• Duplicate applications blamed for delay in receiving travel vouchers

A SECOND round of travel vouchers should be made available to “digitally excluded” Tasmanians including those who most need help to afford a holiday, a federal MP says.

Premier Peter Gutwein has suggested the government might repeat the ‘Make Yourself At Home’ voucher scheme, after all 21,500 vouchers from the initial round were snapped up within 40 minutes on September 7.

Federal independent member for Clark Andrew Wilkie said the $7.5 million scheme was admirable, but the implementation was disappointing, particularly for elderly Tasmanians and those on low incomes.

Make Yourself at Home travel vouchers ran out within 40 minutes

He has written to the Premier calling for a second round with a “fairer distribution” so those who could not be on a computer at 9am on a Monday morning could benefit.

Independent member for Clark Andrew Wilkie. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“An obvious problem with the first round was that … the digitally excluded – for instance the elderly, low-income households, the unemployed and people with low education levels – likely missed out,” Mr Wilkie said.

“Ironically these are the same groups of people least able to afford a holiday or experience without a voucher.”

He said eligibility should also be open to people on low incomes who could not afford to pay for their accommodation or experiences upfront.