Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan spent most of the week in far north Queensland after a cry for help from tourism operators and Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chair Ken Chapman says the operators got a “fair hearing”.

“We got a very fair hearing, he certainly heard the concerns, the issues, the reality we’re facing up here I guess we just got to wait a couple more weeks to find out whether that message has also got through to the treasurer, the Prime Minister, and the government,” he told Sky News.

Mr Chapman said he would like to see an extension of JobKeeper but says the “language coming out of the government” indicates it will not happen.

“Whatever form of support it is, it needs to keep the people, the tens of thousands of people employed in this industry, in their jobs.”