Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Bushfire recovery initiatives

Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (09:51): The Andrews Labor government needs to do more to support businesses and particularly tourism businesses in the wake of the summer fire crisis. Tourism and other businesses relying on the visitor economy have suffered and have not seen enough support from the Andrews government to get visitors back to our region or to stimulate our local economy. Business owners I met with in Rosedale last week told me they had lost up to 80 per cent of their turnover for January, with the long closure of the Princes Highway as much to blame as the fires themselves.

In South Gippsland the situation is similar thanks to the closure of the critical Melbourne–Sydney touring route. This highlights that this road needs to have sufficient tree clearance either side to ensure it is not closed for long periods ever again.

The government’s efforts so far in providing $200 000 to Destination Gippsland and a pittance for some events funding are not good enough and stand in stark contrast to the billions of dollars being spent in Melbourne. More Gippsland marketing spending and infrastructure projects to stimulate the local economy are needed now.