Scott Morrison has deserted Australia’s tourism industry.
Tourism and Transport Forum modelling reported today shows Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown will cost tourism nationally at least $6.3 billion over the school holidays.
This latest lockdown and the return of restrictions were completely avoidable.
But Scott Morrison has failed to get Australians vaccinated and he has failed to take responsibility for quarantine.
More than 80,000 Australian tourism jobs are gone because Scott Morrison cruelly refused to provide the sector with any support beyond the end of JobKeeper.
Staff and skills shortages are hurting those few regions that have benefitted from a boost in domestic travel.
If Scott Morrison had got on with vaccinating Australians and providing medical quarantine instead of blaming the states for outbreaks, tourism jobs and businesses could have been saved.
While other nations can plan for re-opening because they are efficiently vaccinating their citizens, Australia must again plan for lockdowns because Scott Morrison hasn’t even managed to get five per cent of Australians vaccinated.
Australia’s tourism industry doesn’t need more re-announcements, photo ops and self-congratulations from Scott Morrison.
It needs a clear plan for a full recovery, and sufficient support to survive until international visitors can safely return.