ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
The Queensland Government has been slammed this morning for suggesting that the border closures aren’t hurting the state’s tourism industry.
However, a number of Great Barrier Reef fishing charter operators have come forward this morning to defend the government, telling The Advocate that ‘every single one of their tourists is from the Brisbane area’.
Murray Tomdale, who runs Deltoid Bursting Game Fishing Adventures out of Cairns, has been in the industry for nearly third years and he explained that in his time working in North Queensland, he’s never met a tourist from anywhere outside the Brisbane Metro area.
“Actually, I lie,” he said.
“In 1995, we had a lovely couple from Ipswich on the boat. But more to your point, I think regional Queenslanders need to just calm down a bit and put a bit of faith in our state government,”
“It’s not like they’d lie to us. A Labor Government is in power! They’re the good guys! No, I think other people in the tourism up here who claim be wholly dependant on interstate and international tourism just need to adjust their business model.”
The Advocate reached out to the Queensland Government for comment but was told their entire public affairs department had taken a flex day today.
More to come.
