‘It is not fair’: Merlino not happy with $1.2b half-price flight scheme

Acting Premier James Merlino has lashed out at the federal government’s plan to subsidise 800,000 half-price flights to 13 airports across Australia, arguing the $1.2 billion tourism package had shortchanged Victoria.

Mr Merlino revealed his government will lobby federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan to expand the flight discounts to Melbourne Airport so that the city and eastern parts of Victoria such as Gippsland, Albury and the High Country would benefit from the program.

Acting Premier James Merlino went on the front foot over the half-price flights initiative on Thursday.Credit:Joe Armao

Half-price flights to 13 destinations from April to July – including just one in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia but five in Queensland – headlined a $1.2 billion scheme announced by the federal government on Thursday to help the tourism industry recover from the ravaages of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s like they are looking at the Melbourne and Sydney markets and using them as the source for markets across the rest of the country. It is not fair, and we are disappointed,” Mr Merlino said.

“You only have to look at the numbers. Five in Queensland, three in Tassie, two in the Northern Territory, just one in Victoria. This is not a great outcome for tourism operators, other than those who will be serviced by flights to Avalon.”

In the absence of Premier Daniel Andrews, who faces an extended recovery period after breaking ribs and fracturing a vertebra, Mr Merlino’s offensive was backed up by Tourism Minister Martin Pakula, who said he would be writing to Mr Tehan.

“Somewhere in the Canberra bubble there seems to be a misunderstanding of how Victorian tourism works, and a failure to understand that capital cities have felt the absence of international visitors every bit as much as the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and the Whitsundays,” Mr Pakula wrote on Twitter.

“We want to get Aussie visitors to our ski fields, our wineries, our hotels, our restaurants and laneway bars, our rugged coastline and our incredible regional culinary and cultural offerings. But this inequitable package from the Commonwealth doesn’t do it, and it needs to change.”

The NSW government was similarly unimpressed with the federal plan and complained that Queensland was getting an unfair share of the package – especially given its record on snap border closures and “childish” behaviour over quarantine bills.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said that unlike some states, NSW has always acted in the national interest and “shouldn’t be subsiding the economies of others”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and deputy Michael McCormack want a less conservative borders approach.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce whose company helped devise the federal tourism package, said the corporate business that underpinned capital cities would only fully return once premiers gave guarantees they would not suddenly close state borders in response to coronavirus outbreaks.

“We do have an issue with the conservative nature and the minimum risk taking that’s there,” he said.

Mr Joyce said all state leaders had told him that the risk of borders closing would be extremely low once phases 1a and 1b of the vaccination program, made up of seven million high-risk people including hotel quarantine workers plus aged care residents and staff, were completed.

The federal government has not set a date for each phase of the vaccination rollout, only aiming to have vaccinated the entire population by October.

James Merlino will likely be deputising in Premier Daniel Andrews’ absence for several weeks.Credit:Joe Armao

The Victorian government will release its latest batch of $200 travel vouchers on Friday, which for the first time will be eligible for use in Melbourne as well as the regions.

Victorian businesses suffered as the state shut its border to New South Wales over the Christmas period and most jurisdictions closed to Victoria during last month’s five-day lockdown.

Victoria Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani pointed to those as evidence Australians remained “reluctant to travel and risk being at the other side of a snap border closure”.

“This federal package fails to address the key issue of consumer confidence,” she said.

Mr Merlino said discussions were ongoing at national cabinet regarding border guidelines but “we want our borders to be open”.

His scepticism on the federal tourism package was echoed by Accommodation Australia chief executive Dean Long, who said capital cities such as Melbourne, where 80 per cent of the market was from international and corporate travellers, needed more “immediate support” with hotels running at less than 10 per cent capacity.

Justin Giddings, chief executive of Avalon Airport – Victoria’s big winner from the federal announcement – told The Age that he disagreed with Mr Merlino’s logic.

“When we do catchment surveys, I’m always surprised by the number of people from Melbourne and beyond – about 55 per cent of arrivals go on to Melbourne,” he said.

“Victoria only has two main airports, Mildura could be included perhaps but none of Australia’s other capital cities have been included in the program.”

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra questioned why Tasmania got the “first-class treatment” of three airports compared with Victoria’s one.

“As good as coming into Avalon is … it doesn’t help the CBD, it doesn’t help the Mornington Peninsula, it doesn’t help East Gippsland,” he said.

“We would like to see that improved and for vouchers to be available to come into Tullamarine as well.”

With Alexandra Smith

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