MELBOURNE: The Australian government said on Sunday it will financially aid the country’s tourism sector that’s been badly hit by long-lasting bushfires, as Melbourne braced for downpours at the start of one of its greatest allures, the Australian Open.
Recent rains have brought the number of fires burning across Australia’s east and south coast to under 100 for the first time in weeks, easing a disaster that has scorched an area roughly one-third the size of Germany.
The Australian government said on Sunday it will channel A$76 million ($52 million) to the tourism industry.
Twenty-nine people have been killed in the fires while thousands of animals have also perished.
Fears of smoke from the fires disrupting the Australian Open receded in Melbourne where the year’s first Grand Slam starts on Monday, but the city and parts of the bushfire-ravaged Victoria were bracing for heavy rains.
“Victoria is about to see its wettest two-day period in many, many months,” Dean Narramore from the state’s Bureau of Meteorology said.
More than 780,000 fans attended the two-week Australian Open last year, according to figures from the office of the state’s premier, providing a major influx of cash for Victoria’s economy.
Damages to the tourism industry from the bushfire disaster have approached A$1 billion so far and may go above A$4.5 billion by the end of the year, according to estimates from Australian tourism bodies.
The government said the aid announced on Sunday was “an initial push” to help the country’s A$152 billion tourism industry, an increasingly vital part of Australia’s economy, that accounts for more than 3 percent of annual economic output.
In a joint statement released with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the bushfires have dealt the biggest reputational blow to the Australian tourism industry that it has ever faced internationally.
“Tourism is the lifeblood of so many communities around Australia and it’s absolutely critical that we help to get people back visiting those communities,” Birmingham said.
Australian government to aid tourism industry as bushfires recede
https://arab.news/59t68
Australian government to aid tourism industry as bushfires recede
- Recent rains have brought the number of fires burning across Australia’s east and south coast to under 100 for the first time in weeks
- The Australian government said it will channel A$76 million ($52 million) to the tourism industry
Ukraine, US, Europe still seeking common ground in peace talks, French official says
- French presidency official: “The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective”
PARIS: Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said on Friday.
“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official told reporters in a briefing.
“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.”
The official said there was no joint document yet, but all sides would carry on negotiations in the coming days through various calls and meetings. He did not say whether Washington had set a deadline.
Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favorable to Moscow.
Britain, France and Germany, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US proposals that envisaged Kyiv giving up swathes of its territory to Moscow, abandoning its ambition to join NATO and accepting limits on the size of its armed forces.
The French official said the talks aimed at narrowing differences with the United States and centered on territory and potential security guarantees for Ukraine once there is a peace accord.
Those discussions include the possibility of a NATO Article-5 type clause involving Washington that would seek to reassure Kyiv in case it was once again attacked by Russia, the official said.
The Europeans have also faced pressure in recent weeks with some American proposals touching on elements that concern NATO and the European Union, including suggestions on fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.
“The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective,” the official said. “That is what we are committed to and it is up to the Europeans and the Ukrainians to agree on how to proceed.”
