Australia information reside: OECD election too near name; Morrison defends tourism bundle | Australia information

Good Morning, Matilda BoseleY. here with you to get through the last dying breaths of the week.

At least in the political landscape, the federal government’s tourism rescue package is still a hot topic of conversation.

Yesterday Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced plans to allocate $ 1.2 billion to provide half-price airline tickets to a number of popular tourist destinations in an effort to empower the end-of-work travel sector.

Morrison has denied the government’s favored claims coalition and marginal seats in the selection of these targets, calling opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s allegation that southern Tasmania was ignored because it was a safe liberal seat “absurd”.

It is ridiculous. I mean, the northern part of Tasmania is the regional part of the state that needs that extra support …

We already have many flights to Hobart.

The list released yesterday morning was just a “first” list, says Morrison, and the government added Darwin (a Labor stronghold) later Thursday.

But it doesn’t look like their problems are over yet. The Victorian guides say they were briefly switched after just getting one (kind of weird) half price destination in the program.

Avalon Airport was chosen but is not exactly in the middle of a tourist hub. It is only an hour from Melbourne and serves the industrial city of Geelong. While this would help guide tourists down the Great Ocean Road, incumbent Prime Minister James Merlino says it won’t be enough.

It’s like looking at the Melbourne and Sydney markets and using them as a source for markets in the rest of the country. It’s not fair and we’re disappointed …

All you have to do is look at the numbers. Five in Queensland, three in Tassie, two in the Northern Territory, only one in Victoria. This isn’t a great result for tourism businesses other than those served by flights to Avalon.

Now the other important event that happens today is the WA state election, which, with the opposition leader, is reaching its final day Zak Kirkup He insists that despite the Liberal’s almost guaranteed defeat, he has no regrets.

It could also mark the end of Kirkup’s short-lived political career after the 34-year-old vowed to distance himself from politics if he lost his extremely marginal seat in Dawesville in Saturday’s state elections.

We have done everything we can and will continue to work incredibly hard to get out of there …

It takes a toll, but I promise you it’s worth it for the people of Western Australia so that they understand exactly what it could mean if Labor were given total control and power.

To be honest, saying “we’ve done all we can” in the last few hours of a campaign is probably not a good sign.

Why don’t we jump into the day with it?

If you think I missed something or should find it on the blog but I haven’t, drop me a line on Twitter @ MatildaBoseley or email me matilda.boseley@theguardian.com.