Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Mornington Peninsula tourism

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (13:05): The tourism and hospitality sector on the Mornington Peninsula continues to suffer under the weight of this government’s mismanagement and poor policy. In addition to facing the challenges posed by macro-economic conditions and the rising cost of doing business in this state, the businesses in my electorate are also facing additional challenges as a result of the Allan Labor government’s policies. Despite facing the same issues as communities across regional Victoria the Mornington Peninsula remains under its restrictive metropolitan designation. It deprives businesses of access to grants, opportunities and regulatory changes that other regional businesses can benefit from.

Recently I had the Shadow Minister for Planning, the member for Brighton, down in my electorate, and we attended the Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism Board’s urgent crisis meeting with other industry stakeholders. At this event we heard business after business share their story about just how much they are struggling with the restrictive policies of this government, lengthy and expensive planning regimes, a lack of government investment in destination marketing and council constraints, which are obviously another issue they are dealing with. These things are all driving that industry towards collapse. Areas like mine and others’ in this place have limited commercial accommodation. Local tourism operators rely on short-stay options to accommodate patrons and staff during the peak season, and just today we see the government putting another 7.5 per cent on those properties. It is going to make it harder for business and harder for those people looking to travel to the Mornington Peninsula.