| Parliamentary push for cruise

CRUISE Lines International Association (CLIA) is urging everyone involved in cruising to meet personally with their local Member of Parliament to highlight the “enormous human cost” of the current cruise ban.

The Meet Your MP initiative is the next phase of CLIA’s Ready Set Sail campaign (CW 16 Jun), and encourages travel advisors to connect with their local representative.

To support the process, CLIA has created a new online toolkit which provides resources needed to seek face-to-face or virtual meetings with state and federal representatives.

It provides step-by-step instructions for contacting an MP and explaining the key issues facing the industry, as well as a fact sheet and infographic – CLICK HERE to access the resources.

“CLIA and cruise lines have been lobbying hard among political leaders and will continue to do so,” said Managing Director Australasia Joel Katz.

“The grassroots involvement of travel agents, suppliers and other stakeholders will help support our efforts and highlight the devastating personal impact of the cruise suspension,” he said.

The phase is being rolled out as Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch leads his own charge to reopen the cruise industry, with the backing of 15 fellow members of parliament, The Australian has reported.

Entsch, whose Far North Queensland electorate has been hit hard by the cruise restrictions, has garnered support from both sides of the political divide, including Liberal’s Dave Sharma, Labor’s Kristy McBain, and independent Zali Steggal.

Describing the situation as a “tragedy”, Entsch said he was very worried about the cruise industry, saying the first step should be to give the industry a date to work with.

“It has been a difficult 15 months since [tourism] businesses vanished overnight with the suspension of cruising,” he wrote in a letter to Minister for Tourism Dan Tehan and Minister for Health Greg Hunt on 24 Jun.

“Some [tourism operators] are living off retirement savings and others are facing critical decisions in the survival of their businesses,” he said.

“The reality is we all know about Ruby Princess, [but] you have to accept lessons have been learnt…the cruise industry accepts they have to put in place procedures like every other part of our community to minimise the risk.”

Entsch added he had also raised the issue with the offices of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

He said he wants the eastern states to reopen for cruising, and thinks New Zealand should also be opened up to the cruise industry as part of the travel bubble.

The Member for Leichhardt also noted in Cairns, in his electorate, millions of dollars was recently spent dredging the harbour to facilitate larger cruise vessels.

In a statement to The Australian Tehan said since the start of the pandemic, the Government has made the health and safety of Australians its top priority, and closing the international borders accomplished this.