Tourism; challenges facing tourism operators; vaccine rollout failures; worker shortages; working holiday visas; rising case numbers; international visitors; George Christensen spreading conspiracy theories; lockdowns; Scott Morrison avoiding a debate; Novak Djokovic.

SHANE HAMILTON, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR DAWSON: Good morning. It's great to be here in the lovely Whitsundays. We've had a brunch this morning with Anthony and our local tourism operators to talk about the struggles and the needs that they've gone through up here. It was a really productive session and something that both of us will take away from it. But it's great to have Anthony here in the Whitsundays speaking to locals about their needs and what we will do as a government moving forward.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much, Shane. And I do want to thank the tourism operators here in the Whitsundays for a very constructive dialogue that we've had over the last two hours. They've been doing it tough. The tourism sector here provides about $6 billion of injection into our national economy. It's the lifeblood of this local community. And they've been doing it tough. First, there was a reluctance to put in JobKeeper and wage subsidies. But that kept things going for a while. But the three sectors that have missed out from this Government that keep being forgotten are tourism, the arts and higher education. And tourism needs to be a sector that’s valued. One of the things that will come, I think, as some surprise during this pandemic for Australians to learn, is that Australian spend more overseas historically than international visitors spend here. So, whilst we've seen the growth, in some areas, of people traveling domestically when they've been able to, they have been doing it tough, and it's vital that we provide support for tourism in this region. This morning, we've spoken about our package of $160 million for the Great Barrier Reef that includes $85 million for ready-to-go blue and green projects to make sure that we improve water quality, to make sure that we make a difference, whether it be on land, working with the agricultural sector, or on sea, improving the quality of water and improving the product that can be given where people will travel all over the world to see this magnificent, natural environment that is a great asset for Australia. But the tourism sector today have told us firsthand about how tough it has been. Their priority at the moment is the failure of the Government to secure enough tests. You simply can't get enough rapid antigen tests. And that is causing a major concern for them in terms of workforce shortages, adding to it, because if people can't get a test and they're unsure of why it is that they perhaps are feeling unwell, then that's creating a reluctance and is adding to the labour shortages which are here on the Reef. That's the big priority that we got from them this morning. The Federal Government needs to do better. How it is that having failed to secure enough vaccines, failed on purpose-built quarantine, then failed now on the booster shot rollout, whereby appointments are being delayed, the children who can't get appointments, parents who are struggling to get appointments, even though from yesterday children became eligible for the vaccine. And of course, the issue of testing, which has been, quite frankly, a diabolical situation, given that rapid antigen tests were approved by the TGA in September, they were a part of the national plan and they came into force and became available here from November 1. The tourism operators expressed some dismay that you've had rapid antigen tests being produced here and exported overseas, even though those companies approached the Federal Government to purchase those rapid antigen tests so that they would become available. It's made it very difficult for people here. But we will provide support for the tourism sector. Of course, we spoke as well about how, when this Government was first elected, they forgot to appoint a Tourism Minister. That says it all about this Government, a failure to even appoint. A tourism sector at the beginning of this decade long that they've had in Government says it all about their failure to prioritise it. We also spoke about the need to ensure that tourism is a career. It's not seen as something that people just do on a casual basis while they're at uni. It's something that builds careers. It’s a major export for Australia. And it is something that should be valued. We spoke as well about the potential of our skills package, with 465,000 free TAFE places. How do we upskill the tourism workforce, because these are skilled jobs and we need to make sure that they're valued in the future. Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: What is holding up the rollout of vaccines at present? Supply issues or distribution issues? And what needs to be done?
 
ALBANESE: There are major problems with supply getting to where it's needed. The Federal Government continues to say everything's all okay. Well, they need to get out. Because the fact is that people are having difficulties getting their booster shots, they're having their appointments delayed. People are having problems. So, if you speak to doctors, we were at a medical centre yesterday in Townsville whereby the promised supply just didn't come last week, was delayed for an additional week. And the problem that that’s creating, whether it be children getting their first dose or adults getting their booster or, indeed, adults getting their first or second dose, is that if you have appointments which are made and then delayed, that just adds to the issue out there of lowering vaccination rates and adds to the frustration. And certainly, the receptionist at the medical centre yesterday is replicated right around the country, of people making calls. Why is it that people are having to make calls trying to search somewhere to get a booster shot into the third year of this pandemic, or trying to get their children vaccinated, just as people are either making calls, or traveling around from pharmacy to pharmacy or shop to shop, trying to find a rapid antigen test that simply isn't available in a whole range of communities?
 
JOURNALIST: Industry groups say the worker shortage won’t be fixed until people on working holiday visas return to Australia. How do you plan to bring those people back?
 
ALBANESE: We need to have a plan and it needs to involve bringing them here safely. I have been arguing for years now about purpose-built quarantine to ensure Australians are able to come home safely and to ensure as well that the labour shortages can be addressed. This Government has been complacent about that. They said that Australians would be brought home the Christmas before last, before they promised they'd be home by last Christmas. 
 
JOURNALIST: (Inaudible). 
 
ALBANESE: Well, the plan needs to be to bring people in safely. And they need to ensure that the health concerns are dealt with. But one way in which you do that is to have quarantine facilities for people who need it. That's one of the pressures that's on in terms of making sure there's confidence in the system. Now Pacific Island workers have been brought in and that has been successful and is dealing with it. But we need to bring in labour shortages working visa holiday makers, but there are also shortages of skilled workers as well. That's got to be addressed and the Government needs to have a plan to do so. And it needs to be a national Government plan. Because the national Government is in charge of our visa system, is in charge of who comes into the country. 
 
JOURNALIST: The rising cases and close contacts are really crippling some industries right now. What can be done to address that?
 
ALBANESE: Well, one of the issues for example, with critical industries, is that tourism’s been excluded as one of those critical industries. That was something that was raised today. Tourism is a critical industry. Why is it that it isn't given the same status as other industries? 
 
JOURNALIST: Tourists from China are traditionally very important to North Queensland. Do you have concerns that Australia’s deteriorating relationship with China will have an impact on those?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it is having an impact. It's having an impact right now. And of course, the issue of international visitors is one that's really hurt the community here in North and Tropical Queensland, because international visitors are such an important part of the tourism sector. International visitors are also high spenders. They tend to spend a considerable period of time here as well. And in terms of many of those communities, such as the Chinese community, tend to come, not as individuals, come as being family groups as well. And that adds to the economic benefit to Australia. It's one of the things that needs to be worked through in terms of how do we use. The fact of the pandemic will cause, in my view, Australia to have an opportunity to reset, to step back, consider, okay, how do we grow back stronger, not return to what was there, how do we grow as an economy? Whether it be through our National Reconstruction Fund with new industries, whether it be the production of cleaner energy that supports manufacturing through our Powering the Nation plan, or whether it be specific industry plans such as tourism. Tourism I see as having a great potential. I chose to be the Tourism Shadow Minister in the last term and the one before because I really see it as a growth sector. What that needs is a long term plan that values skilling up Australians for those jobs, that looks at the specific markets where we have an opportunity to grow, not just from China, but from the growing middle class in our region. One of the advantages that we have as a nation is that historically, you know, many, many decades ago we suffered from the tyranny of distance. We're now located in the fastest growing region of the world in human history. What that means is that there's a growing middle class, a growing middle class as well in urbanised communities, such as China and India, whereby the sort of open space and pristine environment that we see here in the Whitsundays is an extraordinary asset. It's one that is very attractive for international visitors as well as for domestic visitors. We need to make sure that we maximise the opportunity and the economic benefit for Australia of that.
 
JOURNALIST: George Christensen over the past few days has started a new podcast in which he’s been sharing conspiracy theories around something that he calls ‘mass formation psychosis’. Barnaby Joyce is down in Mackay today with George Christensen. Does he or the Government need to be doing more to rein him in?
 
ALBANESE: George Christensen’s behaviour is more than just a figure of amusement or bemusement. It needs to be taken seriously. George Christensen's behaviour in promoting conspiracy theories and engaging in this behaviour has an impact on people's health. Because he, along with the other conspiracy theorists, in promoting those sorts of ideas, do get listened to by a small proportion of the population, is promoting vaccine hesitancy, is promoting activity which is a danger to people's health, and therefore as well a danger to the economy and to jobs. The fact is, George Christensen remains as a member of the Australian Government, the Australian governing party. And the fact that Barnaby Joyce, as the leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister, is out there campaigning with George Christensen today says it all about the problems with this Government. This Government like to speak, from time to time, about strength. Well, the truth is that this Prime Minister is too weak to take on George Christensen and to do what should happen, which is he shouldn't be a part of a government party if he's engaging in the sort of dangerous and reckless rhetoric which he continues to do. But instead of that, he's getting a hug from the Deputy Prime Minister today, which will be seen by some people as an endorsement, rather than distancing the Government from his views.
 
JOURNALIST: The PM yesterday basically accused you of advocating for more lockdowns. Is he correct? Are you the leader who wants to lock us down?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it's a very strange comment from the Prime Minister that somehow we're promoting lockdowns when yesterday I was in Townsville, today I'm here in Airlie Beach, after this I’ll be going to a prawn farm in Proserpine, the day before we've been in Cairns, Mossman, Innisfail, Ingham. Doesn't look to me as though I’m promoting lockdowns. I want there to be as less restrictions as are possible. What I want is for him to do his job. And if he does his job, then we would have had rapid antigen tests available. And they should be free, available to all, so that people can go about their work and go about their activity. Less access to testing has meant more restrictions and less economic activity. That's the truth of the matter. The failure of this Government on so many areas, on vaccine availability, on quarantine, on testing, means that there's been less economic activity. No one wants there to be restrictions for one day more than necessary. But the truth is, as well, that Dominic Perrottet has had to change his rhetoric and has introduced some restrictions in New South Wales. And we should listen to the experts. Things like wearing masks inside are a common-sense thing to do. Here in Queensland, every time I've checked into a venue, you check in and they check whether you've got the green tick in order to enter. It's not a big imposition. It's something that is about keeping people safe, including the workers who work at that venue, and including other people who are there. It's a common-sense measure. There are a range of those restrictions. This Prime Minister has refused to debate myself as Leader of the Opposition on now hundreds of occasions. He has shut down debate in the national Parliament on issues of importance. So instead of debating me on issues in a serious way, what he does is invent an imaginary friend, an imaginary opponent, make up things about what their views are, and then has a debate with them. Well, I say to this Prime Minister, anytime he wants to debate, be it a National Press Club, be it on the floor of the national Parliament, if Parliament resumes, anytime, indeed, during the campaign. He can have as many debates as he wants, he can pick the venue, wherever he wants as well. I'll be there and engage with him. But he needs to stop this nonsense of just making things up. Because Australians are onto him. He now has a circumstance whereby he makes things up to no end. He just does it as a matter of course. And Australians have noticed that this guy can't be trusted, that he does make up lies rather than engage in serious debate about issues which are serious about the nation's future. 
 
JOURNALIST: Alex Hawke is going to make a decision within the next few hours as to what he does with Novak Djokovic’s visa. If you were advising him, what would you be telling him to do?
 
ALBANESE: I would have told him to get it right in the first place. It is extraordinary that this Government is so incompetent. Not only have they failed on vaccines, they've failed on booster shots, they’ve failed on testing. (Inaudible) visas in this country. How is it that we still haven’t had an explanation, how is it that Novak Djokovic was given a visa in the first place if he wasn't eligible? And this is now an issue that goes to the Government's competence. And it also goes to Australia's international reputation. Novak Djokovic's view on vaccinations has been a lead story in every sporting feature of every newspaper in the world for months. And now we have a circumstance whereby he arrives in the country, Scott Morrison says it's nothing to do with him, it's all to do with somehow Tennis Australia is responsible for issuing visas into this country, and then, because it becomes an issue, once again, wait for a problem to become a crisis before he acts, he then acts in a way that is shown by the courts to not be in accordance with the law. So that decision’s overturned. And now we have a crisis all of the Government’s own making. This Government should have got it right in the first place.
 
JOURNALIST: You’re a tennis fan, though, Mr Albanese. Are you comfortable with Novak Djokovic playing in the Open?
 
ALBANESE: I am a tennis fan. And I'd like to consider myself, but can’t, unfortunately, I’m a try-hard tennis player in the in the Sydney Badge comp. But I'm certainly not anywhere near, I’m very jealous of people like John Alexander and others in the Parliament who are very serious tennis players. Look, the issue here needs to be separated out, of course. Novak Djokovic is a great tennis player. He's a great athlete. He's a much better athlete, though, than he is an advisor on health. And on the issue of vaccinations, he's wrong. He's wrong. And Australians, like other people, benefit from following the science and the science tells us that we should be vaccinated. And it's good that role models like Rafael Nadal have been out there promoting appropriate health outcomes for people. People who are role models have a responsibility to other people who look up to them. They have a responsibility to make sure that they make good decisions. Novak Djokovic hasn’t made a good decision by not being vaccinated.
 
JOURNALIST: The Immigration Minister, though, should he allow him to stay? Or should he kick Djokovic out of the country?
 
ALBANESE: The decisions should have been made earlier on. I'm not governing from Opposition. The fact is that this has been botched completely by the Australian Government. It's been botched because the Australian Government is led by someone and has a characteristic that they always wait for a problem to become a crisis before they act. And when they do act, they have a short-term, 24 hour focus. It is beyond my comprehension, and that's what the Minister needs to explain to the Australian people, because it hasn't been explained up to this point, how is it that the Australian Government issued a visa if it was the case that Mr Djokovic wasn't eligible for that visa? How is it that that occurred? What was the decision-making process? Because it's the Australian Government that issue visas in this country. Not sporting organisations, not the random bloke down the street. It's the Australian Government with the authority of the Australian Immigration \Minister. That is the process of visas. One of the things that we talked about this morning here was someone getting their mum into the country here from England. And they went through a process whereby they filled out the visa forms, they went through an extensive process that included quarantine in Sydney before arrival, before this tourism operator’s mum was able to come up here to stay. They went through a whole process. We have orderly processes in this country. What we have from the Government, though, is a hands-off approach. It's always someone else to blame. They need to accept responsibility. If the Australian Government isn't responsible for visas. And this is something that I've been talking about now for the last two years, when you've had the extraordinary circumstance of the Federal Government saying, well, state governments somehow are in charge of people coming into Australia. The Australian Government runs immigration, borders, customs, they run quarantine under the Constitution. They're in charge of all of those issues. And quite clearly, not only is this a short-term issue, but this has caused a great international embarrassment for Australia. It is one that could have been avoided had there been a clear decision made prior to any visa being granted, which is what other people around the world have had to do.