Industry welcomes Don

THE travel industry has welcomed the confirmation today that Don Farrell has been officially appointed as Australia’s new Tourism and Trade Minister.

Flagged as the likely successor by Travel Daily last week (TD 23 May), the South Australian-based Senator arrives in the role after previously holding the Minister Assisting on Tourism position for a brief period under the second Kevin Rudd administration in 2013, a responsibility he held for only two months along with the sport portfolio.

Before politics, Farrell was the Secretary and National President of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) union in South Australia.

In welcoming Farrell to the job, AFTA CEO Dean Long said he was already in dialogue with the Senator to tackle the issue of rebuilding the travel and tourism workforce in the face of ongoing worker shortages.

“More than a third of our workforce was wiped out as a result of COVID-restrictions and now, at a time when travelling Australians need professional travel advice more than ever, we urgently need to address that skills and workforce shortage,” Long said.

“Senator Farrell has been a longstanding champion of Australia’s travel agents and businesses and AFTA is proud to have a longstanding relationship with him and his office,” he added.

CATO’s MD Brett Jardine also hailed Farrell’s appointment, citing his keenness to work with the Senator on forging ahead with ongoing support measures.

“We look forward to further engagement with Don Farrell and the new Labor government as we seek ongoing support for travel businesses that remain heavily impacted by COVID related restrictions,” Jardine said.