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Category: CEO’s Report

Industry Issues, Opinions and Concerns – CEO’s report

CEO’s Report – Tourists Spending in Western Australia

Tourists all around the world are looking for ways to spend their travel dollars. Western Australia needs to be doing more to make sure it’s spent here in our pubs, bars and hotels. When the Western Australian Government has little control over its revenue streams from iron ore royalties, the economic tipping point for our food and beverage, hotel and tourism sector has appeared on the horizon.

Perth is undergoing its largest ever hotel room expansion and will reach an additional 1,900 rooms by 2020. Without adequate destination marketing there could be excess capacity, fewer jobs, weak market and investor sentiment as well as missed opportunities for hospitality.

We must leverage Western Australia’s world-class food and beverage offering and use it to drive demand from tourists across all outlets, pubs, restaurants, bars and fine dining.

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CEO’s Report – Sunday Penalty Rates

Progress is being made on the issue of penalty rates with a big win coming out of the Productivity Commission’s report that recommends Sunday penalty rates be removed for hospitality workers, aligning them with Saturday rates. The Commission believes lower regulated Sunday rates would increase opening hours and encourage higher staffing ratios and job opportunities – the AHA agrees.

The AHA is pursuing a sensible policy debate on penalty rates and for the Australian union movement to understand that there is a pool of workers who for whatever reason are unemployed or underemployed and want work on the weekends. Tourism and hospitality is best positioned to absorb these workers and provide them with jobs, but it is currently not affordable.

The Australian economy is in transition. Manufacturing in the future will not provide for Australia what it has in the past; likewise the huge economic boost provided by mining and petroleum has gone. Australia in the future will become more and more of a services sector and at the moment we are underservicing people on weekends because of high weekend premium rates.

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CEO’s Report – Healthway and Late Night Trains

There appears to be an attitude in a small number of Western  Australian Government Agencies that it’s ok to place their Ministers and the Government in embarrassing and difficult situations.

The recent examples include some Healthway staff and Board members use of corporate facilities for personal use and the decision of the Public Transport Authority (PTA) to  unilaterally cancel the late night train service after midnight without any community or hospitality industry consultation.

Both have resulted in their respective Ministers having to defend public administration by unelected bureaucrats. However, the lesson is that other Government Agencies should take these issues as a signal that they are open to accountability and will be scrutinised by the media and the public.

Continue reading CEO’s Report – Healthway and Late Night Trains

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