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As many as one in five businesses in Australia s $50 billion tourism industry could fail in 2021, with operators and advocates pushing the Morrison government to extend temporary wage assistance.
New modelling by the Tourism & Transport Forum shows nearly 32,000 businesses are at risk this year, amid coronavirus travel restrictions and Australia s ongoing international border shutdown.
Entrepreneur Peter Wright says many tourism operators won t survive another year of pandemic pain.
David Hill
Prepared for the federal government by modellers Stafford Strategy, the figures show of the nearly 160,000 tourism businesses nationally, those more than three hours drive away from major cities are particularly at risk if the $90 billion JobKeeper scheme isn t extended beyond March.
Australian Tourism Industry Council Executive Director Simon Westaway told Sky News the border closures and restrictions over the holiday period were “quite devastating” for many businesses which still need government aid.
“It’s been really quite devastating,” Mr Westaway said.
“We’re talking full facilities, 100 per cent bookings, then literally shrivelled up to zero overnight.
“They can’t replace that revenue lost and what government does need to start to understand here is you just can’t magically recreate Christmas, you can’t magically recreate New Year.
“For places like South Coast New South Wales after the devastating bushfires of last season and now this situation they’ve had two years where basically their Christmas is shot.
“Many businesses are really staring down a black hole around whether they have a future”.
Mr Westaway said Australia needs to “face the reality” international borders will be closed for some time and focus on keeping
A new warning against overseas travel has sparked calls for billions of dollars in aid for the tourism industry as bans on international border crossings are set to continue throughout 2021.
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Several health experts are urging the Victorian government to embrace rapid antigen testing for coronavirus, arguing that the technology is cheap, improving in accuracy and could help keep borders open and strengthen hotel quarantine.
One leading Australian manufacturer of the 15-minute tests says the public health policy around the technology is “dogmatic and not flexible”, criticising the government for relying on lab-based pathology without proper consideration of other testing strategies being used overseas.
A volunteer takes a rapid antigen screening test in Barcelona in December.
Credit:AP
Rapid antigen tests are relatively inexpensive compared to the common PCR tests (the nasal and throat swabs), however, results are less accurate. A total of 19 rapid antigen tests have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.