Push to slap public servants with return to office order

Mr Tehan has been under fire from Acting Premier James Merlino and Lord Mayor Sally Capp for excluding Melbourne from the commonwealth’s half-price flights program to rejuvenate holiday destinations.The federal minister has now hit back, saying bringing workers back to the city was the “huge boost” businesses needed.“We need strong leadership from the state government — it has never been more ­important for the recovery of the CBD,” Mr Tehan said.“They need to get all public servants back to work, and encourage all private sector businesses to get their employees back to work in the CBD.”While Melbourne is not part of the discount scheme, the Herald Sun can reveal that this week, Jetstar had about 1.8 million fares for sale under $100 in and out of Victoria, including for $55 one-way from Sydney.The government-subsidised flights are available for travel from April to September, but the only routes into Victoria are from the Gold Coast and Sydney to Avalon. In that period last year, the number of domestic overnight visitors to Geelong and the Great Ocean Road plunged by 72 per cent compared to 2019.The latest tourism data, from December, showed travelling Victorians spent $744m in their state — 5 per cent down on the same time in 2019 — but interstate visitors spent just $204m, a 63 per cent drop.While the number of overnight trips in regional Victoria was the same in December as it was the year before, only 452,000 people holidayed in Melbourne — a 50 per cent fall, worse than any other ­region in Australia.Total tourism spending in Melbourne in December was $346m, compared to $699m the year before. In that month, 183,000 people flew between Melbourne and Sydney — a 75.8 per cent fall compared to December 2019 — and flights were only 59 per cent full. But only two other routes — Melbourne-Brisbane and Brisbane-Sydney — carried more than 100,000 passengers.Mr Tehan urged the ­Victorian government to send a “very clear message” that its border would remain open to “give people confidence to travel again”.