7 years ago
TOURISM JOBS BOOST FOR CENTRAL QUEENSLAND
JIM CHALMERS MP
Federal Labor’s $1 billion investment in new tourism infrastructure for Northern Australia will mean more support for the industry and more jobs for Central Queensland.
Shadow Minister for Northern Australia Jason Clare, Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers and Queensland Senator Murray Watt joined Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones and hardworking local MP Brittany Lauga to meet with Yeppoon and Great Keppel Island tourism operators today.
While about two million people visited the southern Great Barrier Reef region in the year to March 2017, this number is down 1.4 per cent on the previous year. Labor wants to see more people visit the region, not fewer.
More tourism, means more jobs. That’s why Labor will invest in upgrading infrastructure specifically aimed at taking advantage of the unique tourism experiences offered in places like Central Queensland.
Labor will establish the Northern Australia Tourism Infrastructure Fund to provide financing and concessional loans to build new tourism infrastructure in Northern Australia.
Tourism is a key economic driver in the region worth about $1.4 billion to the Central Queensland economy and supporting close to 7,000 jobs.
Central Queensland sits on the doorstep of the world’s fastest growing middle class in Asia. By 2030, there will be three billion middle class consumers just to our north.
Labor wants them go to Central Queensland for their holidays.
But, we know we have to make sure that Central Queensland can compete with other world-class destinations.
That’s why we will invest $1 billion in upgrading airports, tourist trails and ports in places like Central Queensland and right across Northern Australia.
The Fund will be fully offset by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility that is still yet to invest a single dollar in job-generating infrastructure.
Capricornia MP Michelle Landry has failed to get one job or one dollar for Central Queensland from the NAIF. The local tourism industry needs action now, which is why Federal Labor is backing it with today's announcement.