Topics: Reopening of international borders; welcoming tourists back to Australia.
Sarah Harris: Now, G’day world, Australia is open to international tourists again. After 23 months, we are reopening international borders and rolling out the welcome mat. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews joins us now from Coolangatta. It’s nice to see you Minister, thanks for joining us. This has been a long time coming. We saw your colleague, the Tourism Minister, greeting people in Sydney with koalas and Tim Tams and Vegemite this morning! So how’s the welcome party there in Queensland?
Karen Andrews: Well, good morning. It’s fantastic that our borders are fully reopened. Now, that is just great news, and, of course, I’m on the Gold Coast and you can see the beach behind me, so we have the opportunity to probably go out for a little bit of a paddle later today, but we’ve got the welcome mat out here on the Gold Coast but also throughout Queensland and right across Australia, and that’s just terrific news.
Tristan MacManus: Now the New York Times ran a not particularly kind article questioning whether our fortress Australia message has killed our easy going image and if tourists will be inclined to face the long haul and rules when they land here. How do you think we change that perception?
Karen Andrews: Well, I think that there’s a couple of things that would go to saying that that story is not probably really telling people the full picture. We know that there’s been a huge increase in internet traffic where people have been starting to look at destinations across Australia to come and visit. We are still a destination that people want to visit. We have dealt with COVID very well. So I think that what you’re starting to see is people actively interested in coming here. People are right out in the communities now. Look, on the Gold Coast yesterday, it was as if we were the peak of the tourist season with the number of people that were out and about. That’s only going to increase with the international flights that are coming in now. So I think that there’s already strong evidence that people want to come to Australia to visit, and that what we will see is an increasing number of flights over the coming days, weeks, and months.
Sarah Harris: Pre pandemic, Minister, we know that our tourism industry was absolutely booming. How long will it be – how long will it take to get back to those glory days we saw before Covid-19?
Karen Andrews: Look, it’s very difficult to put a time frame on how long it’s going to be to get back to pre-COVID, but what we do know is that we are already starting to see some healthy signs that we are well on the way to recovery. So our economy is doing well. Job numbers are fantastic. For tourists, we know that people have done so well by being able to travel around their state or across Australia when they can, but now that we’ve got international tourists coming in, we will actually start to see a significant increase and probably a sharp increase in the number of dollars that are coming into this country. We’re going to see businesses getting back on their feet again, particularly those that have had it so tough for 15 to 18 months.
Sarah Harris: Yeah. Look, we know it’s going to be great for the tourism industry, but what about for Australia as a whole, Minister?
Karen Andrews: It’s going to be great for Australia as a whole because we know that when people come and visit Australia, that they do spend their money on tourist attractions, but they also support their local community. So there will be hospitality businesses that are well and truly supported by international tourists coming in here. We also know that there’s been a sharp increase in the number of international students coming here and, of course, you’re going to see tourists coming in to see family members and friends who are here now. They will stay in our communities and they will go about enjoying themselves here in Australia. So what you will see is that the tourism industry and bringing in international tourists is going to have a benefit across our communities.
Sarah Harris: All right, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, thanks for your time this morning.
Karen Andrews: It’s a pleasure.