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
Europeans propose ‘multinational force’ for Ukraine peace
- The force would be part of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine from the United States and European powers
- Ukraine’s military should continue receiving extensive support, and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops
BERLIN: European leaders on Monday proposed a European-led “multinational force” with US support to enforce a potential peace deal in Ukraine, according to a joint statement.
The force would be part of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine from the United States and European powers aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war.
The statement — whose signatories included the leaders of Britain, France and Germany — was released as European leaders gathered with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.
The statement also outlined what it said were other points of agreement between a dozen European leaders and US officials in talks over the outlines of a peace proposal.
Ukraine’s military should continue receiving extensive support, and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops, the statement said.
Peace would also be maintained by a “US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism” that would identify violations and “provide early warning of any future attack,” the statement said.
Countries should also make a “legally binding commitment, subject to national procedures, to take measures to restore peace and security in the case of a future armed attack.”
The statement was also signed by the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, as well as the heads of the European Council and the European Commission.
- Progress on security -
Earlier on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that talks in Berlin with two of US President Donald Trump’s close advisers — special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — had yielded “substantial” progress on security guarantees, long a sticking point over any potential peace deal.
The joint statement also stressed the importance of rebuilding Ukraine’s economy, with the leaders backing favorable trade arrangements and “major resources” for reconstruction.
The signers also said they “strongly support” Ukraine joining the European Union.
Talks remain in flux, however, and the statement stressed that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
It remains unclear how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react to the proposals — particularly the prospect of security guarantees for Ukraine and European troops potentially being deployed on Ukrainian territory.
There also remains the key question of the fate of territory occupied by Russian forces, a sticking point in earlier discussions.
The statement said it is “now incumbent upon Russia to show willingness to work toward a lasting peace by agreeing to President Trump’s peace plan and to demonstrate their commitment to end the fighting by agreeing to a ceasefire.”
Until then, the European leaders “agreed to continue to increase pressure on Russia to bring Moscow to negotiate in earnest.”
