Gladys Berejiklian has lashed Scott Morrison’s half-price airline tickets policy, saying it favours Queensland.
The NSW premier said she was ‘a bit disappointed’ that only one area of New South Wales – Merimbula on the south coast – was included in the plan, compared with four Queensland regions.
‘That is frustrating. Especially because I think the tourism problems in Queensland are completely self-inflicted,’ she said in reference to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s state border closures.
‘I am a bit disappointed. It’s fair to say that Sydney, in particular, has been smashed by Covid,’ she told radio 2GB.
These are the 13 places that Australians can fly to and from on half-price tickets from April 1. But they must fly interstate
Under Mr Morrison’s plan, interstate tickets to and from 13 holiday hotspots will be subsidised by the federal government until July 31 and airlines will ramp up their flight schedules to deal with an expected surge in demand over the next three months.
The locations on offer are the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays and Mackay region (including Proserpine and Hamilton Island), the Sunshine Coast, Lasseter and Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula, and Kangaroo Island.
Some 57 routes will be covered on the Qantas and Jetstar network, CEO Alan Joyce said on Thursday morning.
The discount means a return ticket from Sydney to Cairns which currently costs $233 could be as little as $116.50.
A return between Melbourne and the Gold Coast, which is now on sale from $130, could cost just $65.
To get their half-price tickets, Australians simply need to head to the Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin websites after April 1 and they will see the dramatically reduced fares.
The discount only applies to inter-state travel, not intra-state flights – providing an incentive to premiers to keep their state borders open.
There will be no limit on the number of tickets available but the government expects an average of 46,000 people per week – a total of about 800,000 – will fly on the subsidised flights.
The areas involved have been chosen because they rely on tourism for their wealth and are particularly dependent on aviation for their visitor numbers.
Almost a million airline tickets will be go on sale at half price on April 1 under a $1.2billion package to boost the ailing the tourism sector. Flights to the Gold Coast (pictured) could be as cheap as $49
The scheme is part of a huge bail-out package for the tourism sector which employs 611,000 Australians and has been crippled by the Covid-induced international border shutdown.
Amid a stark warning that 100,000 people could be fired when JobKeeper ends, the government will also give monthly payments to airlines to retain 8,600 international workers such as pilots and cabin crew until October 31 when the border is expected to re-open with every Australian vaccinated.
Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka and Qantas boss Mr Joyce welcomed the package.
‘This is great news for Australian aviation. This is great news for Australian tourism. This is great news for Qantas, but particularly for Qantas employees,’ Mr Joyce said.
‘I think it also is an incentive for the states to keep their borders open. And that’s important, because we can’t keep on going through the yoyo of the ups and downs of that,’ he added.
Mr Joyce said he expects 22 of 25 Qantas international routes to restart in October alongside all 13 Jetstar routes -but he’s prepared to start earlier or wait longer depending on the Covid-19 situation.
Also in the package, companies getting JobKeeper payments will be offered a government-backed 10-year loan of up to $5million, with no repayments due for two years.
Some 350,000 employees now on JobKeeper could have their wages subsidised by the loans if their company decides to take one.
The prime minster said the package was Australia’s ‘ticket to recovery’.
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan urged Aussies to support fellow countrymen by booking a holiday.
‘The thing our tourism operators want more than anything is tourists so we need Australians to do their patriotic duty and book a holiday this year because every dollar spent on an Australian holiday is a dollar that supports a local job and a local business,’ he said.
The minister also warned state premiers not to close their borders at the first sign of a Covid-19 outbreak after they failed to agree on when borders should be slammed shut.
Tickets to and from 13 holiday hotspots such as Alice Springs (pictured) will be subsidised by the federal government until July 31 and airlines will ramp up their flight schedules to deal with an expected surge in demand
‘We need states and territories to do their part by agreeing to a nationally consistent approach to using border closures and lockdowns as a last resort on medical advice,’ he said.
The government is also extending a range of existing support policies to help the economy recover after its first recession since the early 1990s.
The $50million Business Events Grants Program will be extended by three months to help companies hold multi-day business events by covering up to 50 per cent of costs.
The $94.6million Zoos and Aquarium program will be extended by six months to support zoos, aquariums and wildlife parks to maintain their animal populations where their tourism revenue has been affected by travel and social distancing restrictions.
And the Covid-19 Consumer Travel Support Program will also be extended for three months beyond March 13.
The policies are designed to assist businesses when the JobKeeper subsidy ends almost a full year after it began.
Labor says the scheme is being taken away too soon, but the government says it distorts the economy by stopping workers filling available jobs and keeping businesses afloat that would ordinarily go under.
The prime minister expressed his frustration earlier this week that 54,000 jobs in regional Australia – including at pubs cafes and farms – are going begging.
Prime Minster Scott Morrison said the package was Australia’s ‘ticket to recovery’. Pictured: A tourist at the Whitsundays
To get their half-price tickets, Australians simply need to head to the Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin websites after April 1 and they will see the dramatically reduced fares. Pictured: Kangaroo Island
Some 85 per cent of jobs taken away by the Covid recession have returned and around 2.7million people at 650,000 businesses have come off JobKeeper.
Around 20 per cent of the companies still heavily relying on the payment are in the sectors of Cafes and Restaurants, Travel Agencies and Tour Arrangement Services, Accommodation, and Air and Space Transport.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this latest package of measures will tide companies over until the economy fully recovers.
‘We know there are sectors and regions across the country that are continuing to do it tough, which is why we will continue to support the economy with proportionate, timely, scaleable and targeted assistance,’ he said.
‘Our support for the aviation sector will not just keep planes in the air but will also provide a boost to domestic tourism while our international borders remain closed.
He added: ‘The SME Recovery Scheme is part of the next step in our plan to help small businesses stand on their own two feet as the economy recovers from Covid-19.
‘The expansion and extension of the loans will back businesses that back themselves and will help businesses who continue to do it tough build a bridge to the other side of the crisis and keep their staff employed.’
It comes after an ongoing dispute between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk over support for tourism.
In January Ms Palaszczuk visited struggling tourism businesses in Cairns and asked the federal government to extend the $100billion JobKeeper scheme beyond March 28.
But she was rebuked by Mr Morrison and criticised for crippling small companies with her sudden border shutdowns throughout the pandemic.
Mr Frydenberg said the federal government has done the ‘bulk of the heavy lifting’ to support Queenslanders and Ms Palaszczuk should open her own wallet.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (left) accused Annastacia Palaszczuk (right) of ‘grandstanding’ after she demanded an extension of JobKeeper
He said the federal government has given $28.5billion to Queenslanders in the past year, while the premier has only committed $8.8billion across the next four years.
Mr Frydenberg also accused the premier of ‘grandstanding and petty politicking’ before Ms Palaszczuk hit back and said he should visit Cairns.
On Monday the treasurer flew up to the north Queensland town and met with business owners, telling a press conference that he would announce support measures later in the week.
He explained that JobKeeper cannot continue because it stops workers moving to more productive roles and keeps businesses afloat that would otherwise go under even without coronavirus.