The Tourism Industry Council and its chief executive Luke Martin have taken another opportunity to attack the Greens in a tone of shrill indignation.
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How dare we point out the bleeding obvious - that taxpayers shouldn't be expected to bail out an industry sector affected by a downturn in one section of its market?
Well, we reckon there are a fair few taxpayers who will agree.
It shouldn't be their job to prop up businesses that are going through a difficult time. That's corporate welfare, privatising the profits and socialising the losses. In a time of rising elective surgery waiting lists and a chronic shortage of affordable housing, taxpayer dollars are better invested elsewhere.
While we recognise the current downturn is hurting some tourism operators, there's nothing 'over the top' about opposing handouts just because an industry has too many eggs in the one basket.
We want to see the lockdown in China and the travel bans end, and we want Tasmania's tourism sector to do well.
Done the right way, which it overwhelmingly is, tourism can promote this island's world class wilderness and rich cultural heritage.
It can support regional communities on the fringes of National Parks and reserves, strengthening local economies.
Unfortunately, the TICT are taking the industry in a different direction and while they're at it, attacking conservationists who have spent decades defending the very places Tasmanians love and visitors come here to see.
Many tourism operators are grateful to the Greens and the conservation movement for working so hard and for so long to protect the wild places so vital to Tasmania's 'clean, green' brand.
Maybe the TICT should take a leaf out of their book.
In reality, the response of the TICT to the Greens' comments is more likely related to our consistent opposition to the privatisation of publicly owned protected areas and the Liberals' Expressions of Interest process.
Which of course the TICT, an industry body, driven by rolling and increasing profit for their predominately big business board, strongly supports.
To soften the impacts of the coronavirus, the Greens encourage Tasmanians to holiday locally and visit their local tourism businesses and Chinese restaurants. That would have been a call by the TICT we'd have wholeheartedly supported.
- Cassy O'Connor MP is the leader of the Tasmanian Greens.