Travel agents say they’ll be forced to close because the Morrison Government’s announced support package is so poorly designed it won’t help them.
Agents have been begging for support for months due to the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their business and the obvious reality that there will be no snap-back for the industry.
When Simon Birmingham finally announced a package for travel agents two weeks ago, after months of lobbying by the industry, he spruiked it as a lifeline.
But agents say the Government has completely ignored their warnings that, for many, the package simply won’t help keep their businesses open.
This program should be helping agents to survive and recover but sadly it is yet another example of the Morrison Government being all announcement and no delivery.
The Government took nine months to come up with this program while agents faced a daily struggle to survive.
But the Morrison Government is so focused on its announcements that it wouldn’t hold off on launching this plan for even one day in order to take feedback from travel agents into account.
Only Scott Morrison could brag about how ‘bespoke’ his economic plan is by using an example so badly targeted that the businesses it’s meant to support say it won’t work.
The Government has had more than enough time to get this right and more than enough warnings that it wasn’t right.
Scott Morrison and Simon Birmingham need to fix their bungled support program urgently before more agents are forced to close and more Australians lose their jobs in the tourism sector.