Townsville Enterprise is calling for the State and Federal government to formalise their back to business COVID recovery roadmap, on the back of the Prime Minister’s announcement today.
The tourism, events and hospitality industry contributes to over 7,000 jobs and more than $1.2B annually to our regional economy, however this is an industry which has been effectively shut down throughout this pandemic period; and these businesses need a path moving forward to rebuild confidence and optimism in their future.
Townsville Enterprise is calling for the State Government to announce a recovery road-map to provide certainty to local businesses, in particular the tourism, events and hospitality industry who have been left battered and bruised by the restrictions.
Townsville Enterprise CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said local businesses had been very patient in the collective health interest but they were also realistic, and given the combined good work on the health crisis, it was now time to see the light at the end of the tunnel and a more definitive road-map for growing our way out of the economic crisis.
“Our position has always been to advocate for a region-by-region reopening strategy so we can kick-start our economy as soon as possible where the health success allowed, rather than one size fits all. And now is the time we get a pathway and road-map to recovery to help business plan for a restart,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“The way businesses have restructured for the so-called hibernation means they won’t be able to turn back on overnight - it will take time and planning.”
“Our region has worked hard to follow social distancing restrictions to flatten our curve but we also know our region has taken a hit economically to achieve this; we are working hard to support our businesses through this period, but to do this we need a clearer line of sight toward recovery.”
“We have been in lockstep with our local representatives on the need for the health response to lead in the early phases and we also welcome acknowledgement from the Premier and local representatives that they will consider a region-by-region reopening.”
“While the health advice will still be central to the balance of considerations, it’s fair to say that if a small government like the NT can start to provide a clearer road-map, larger, better resourced governments with their army of advisers can start to offer the same sort of clarity so our local businesses, their workers and their families aren’t in the dark and can start to prepare with some more confidence.”
“We know that the State Government has approved exemptions for sports such as NRL and now it is time to put together a road-map for the 7,000 jobs and North Queensland families that need this industry to fire up again. If we can work to a date for the reopening of sports which is important, then we can work to a date for opening up our local businesses.”
The Ville Resort-Casino CEO Michael Jones said a road-map gives more people more opportunity to prepare and meet the challenges and make the decision they have to make.
“Locals genuinely want to get back to work. However, without a clear line of sight of what the reopening process could be, it is difficult to understand what the industry will look like on the other side of COVID,” Mr Jones said.
“Our industry needs a road-map to reopening to give everyone some hope, certainty, and a path for planning onto a post-COVID world.”
“We understand there will be some flexibility and health input, but moving from day by day announcements to a clearer road-map over the coming weeks and months is increasingly critical to business planning so people don’t just give up because of the lack of a pathway.”
Ms O’Callaghan says our local economy will be essential to the recovery of our region post-COVID19.
“The longer the restrictions are in place, the more jobs will be lost, the more devastation we will feel in our economy and the longer it will take to recover,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
“However, if we can get North Queensland back to some level of work, it will also allow more locals to support each other and with 30% of our local labour force employed by the public sector there are a number of people in our community that have an income at the moment and would jump at the opportunity to rebuild our business community.”
