Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Eighteen months of rolling farce only for the government to gag legislation. Eighteen months of mistakes, mis-steps and lack of consultation, and all of a sudden, after failing to bring it into the House and the Senate last week, after failing to deal with this matter comprehensively, the government takes the decisive action of a gag. Why? To allow National Party members to vote for a 15 per cent backpacker tax. That is what happened in the House a few moments ago: Nationals and rural Liberals voted for a backpacker tax rate of 15 per cent when they could have shown a bit of backbone, a bit of courage, and insisted on a 10½ per cent backpacker tax rate.

We will give them another opportunity. We will give them another opportunity, because we will move now, in detail, an amendment which would substitute 10½ per cent for 15 per cent. This is an opportunity for the National Party to grow a spine. This is an opportunity for the National Party to stand up, in Canberra, to the Liberals. This is an opportunity now for this parliament, yet again, to tell this Treasurer that he is out of touch and he has got it wrong. It is an opportunity to tell this Treasurer that he is not up to the job and to go back to the drawing board. It is an opportunity to give us a backpacker tax rate that is competitive with New Zealand so that the horticultural, agricultural, hospitality and tourism sectors can be competitive and attract backpackers, and in those regions those backpackers can then spend their earnings.

I have a little update for the Treasurer, who says, 'The Labor Party wants backpackers in Australia to pay no tax.' Well, 10½ per cent is not nothing. That is my update for the Treasurer. It has a zero in it, in the 10. I do accept that fact. I concede that point to the Treasurer, who has been going around saying, 'Bill Shorten and the Labor Party don't want backpackers to pay any tax.' That has never been true. It is not true now. And 10½ is more than zero. It is a rate which would make Australia competitive. It would give this government the opportunity to show that it has listened—finally—after 18 months of policy on the run, 18 months of policy which has been ill designed and ill thought out.

Here we have a government which, on budget night, without a skerrick of consultation, blindsided Australia's farmers. They actually managed to get the NFF offside, which is quite an achievement for the National Party. They managed it today, and they have managed it through this rolling crisis of policy incompetence.

The fact of the matter is that Australia does need a backpacker tax. We recognise that Australia does need some revenue measures. We are glad that the Treasurer has found a revenue measure that he actually can support—this Treasurer who denies that there is a revenue problem in Australia and who has denied consistently that there is a need to increase revenue. But the one that he has found that he can support he has completely botched the implementation of. That is the problem for the Treasurer: when he actually manages to get it right for once, he completely botches the implementation. By his botching of the implementation, there has already been damage.

This is not just about what happens in the future. This is not just about what happens next year. Already backpackers around the world have looked at this debate and have said, 'Australia is a less attractive destination.' Australia's regions have already paid the price for this Treasurer. They have paid the price in North Queensland. They have paid the price in rural Victoria. They have paid the price right across Australia's regional and rural areas. It is the members on this side who would have spoken in this debate who would have pointed out that there has already been a price to be paid, because members on this side of the House are in touch with their communities. They are in touch with their tourist operators who say, 'We are seeing numbers dry up.' When a backpacker earns money, they then engage in some tourism, and they spend that money in regional Australia. So Australia's farmers have paid a price for this bloke; Australia's tourism operators have paid the price for this bloke; and Australia's regional economies have paid the price for this bloke.

What happens now is that the parliament can fix this Treasurer's errors, as we so often have to do. The amendments that have been circulated in my name give this House the opportunity to make the backpacker tax rate 10½ per cent. I ask leave to move amendments (1) and (2) as circulated in my name together.

Leave granted.

I move amendments (1) and (2) as circulated in my name together:

(1) Schedule 1, item 6, page 5 (line 15), omit "15%", substitute "10.5%".

[tax rate—income not exceeding $37,000]

(2) Schedule 1, item 7, page 5 (table item 1), omit "15%', substitute "10.5%".

[tax rate—income not exceeding $37,000]

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