STOP PANDERING TO THE SOUTHEAST AND... UNLOCK NORTH NOW
Leaders unite in plea for economy
NORTH Queensland tourism operators have demanded Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk open up North Queensland now “to prevent a tsunami of business closures”.
Figures show the government-enforced COVID-19 domestic travel lockdown is costing the North Queensland economy more than $90 million each week.
The massive loss, and news that 20,000 more North Queenslanders are out of work, has prompted tourism and hospitality leaders to call for an urgent review of travel restrictions.
NORTH Queensland tourism operators have demanded Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk open up North Queensland now “to prevent a tsunami of business closures”.
Figures show the government-enforced COVID-19 domestic travel lockdown is costing the North Queensland economy more than $90 million each week.
The massive loss, and news that 20,000 extra North Queenslanders are out of work, has prompted tourism and hospitality leaders to call for an urgent review of travel restrictions in time for the school holidays.
Townsville Enterprise has joined with the Regional Tourism Offices from Cairns, the Whitsundays, Mackay and Outback regions, urging restrictions on recreational travel be lifted immediately and widened to the existing Outback travel bubble.
Townsville Enterprise chief executive Patricia O’callaghan said that North Queensland did not have the population density the likes of the Gold Coast and Brisbane could draw upon to support struggling tourism and hospitality businesses.
“It is unrealistic and economically unviable to place the same set of rules on North Queensland as the South East, which is why we need an extension on the 150km zone,” Ms O’callaghan said.
“We’re calling for what has already been earmarked for the ‘Outback’ region in stage two, where travel within the region for a recreational purpose is allowed and that it be applied to the wider North Queensland region from Mackay north to Cairns and west to the Queensland border.
“While we support the premier’s call asking ‘ Queenslanders to back Queenslanders’ and to travel and spend within the state, this can only have a real benefit to our economy if North Queenslanders are able to move more freely within our own region, so our vital drive market can travel and fully support our flailing tourism and hospitality industry.
“We need to see North Queensland reopen as soon as possible and implementing a wider travel bubble as well as increasing the gathering size allowed in businesses prior to the school holidays will be the start of what is needed to reenergise the North Queensland economy.”
A recent member survey conducted by Townsville Enterprise revealed 55 per cent of local tourism and hospitality businesses did not envisage viably reopening under the current road map, indicating how critical it was for North Queensland to get back to business.
The five tourism bodies are encouraging the Queensland Government to consider the processes in place in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia, where broader travel within their own state has relaxed due to low infection rates.
“The Queensland CHO stated from the outset that a region would need to see two incubation periods (28 days) without a locally acquired case for restrictions to be reviewed – it has now been more than four weeks since Townsville, Mackay or the Outback has seen a new case and there has been no community transmission at all in these areas; further to this it has been over eight weeks since any cases in North Queensland were under investigation,” Ms O’callaghan said.
“We have met every health hurdle to date, and we don’t understand why we can’t get back to work.
“The tourism sector in our region supports over 7000 local jobs and contributes more than $1.2 billion annually to our regional economy; however, this industry has been effectively shut down throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The best way to kickstart the economy is to reopen regional tourism in North Queensland and that can be encouraged through a relaxation of the current travel boundaries.
“Statewide travel and the reopening of borders needs to occur as soon as possible to prevent a tsunami of business closures.
“We need to see North Queensland reopen … with a travel bubble as well as fasttracking our region to stage three to enable businesses to reopen prior to the school holidays. It will be the start of what is needed to re-energise the North Queensland economy.”