Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When this entire package was introduced to the House 18 months ago I was willing to give those opposite the benefit of the doubt. A 32.5 per cent backpacker tax came like a bolt out of the blue to most of us in this House. I was not here then, but I thought that maybe the Nationals and those regional Liberals would do the right thing and see this knocked on the head.

They went to the election promising they would take another look at it. What did we see 18 months later, dragged kicking and screaming to a resolution? The Treasurer, who just wants to pocket the money, who said: 'No. You have to make sure that money stays there. I want the lot. I am not willing to negotiate on anything.' So they came up with this brilliant plan to change the 32.5 per cent to 19 per cent, take away nine per cent super and add five dollars to the passenger movement charge.

Why is this going up? Because this government was dragged kicking and screaming to a resolution. It has been an absolute debacle. They have gone from 19 per cent to 15 per cent. But why 15 per cent? Nobody knows. Where did this figure come from? Where is the evidence?

What we are going to be faced with in this country, and what we are facing now—that is what the farmers in my electorate are telling me—are backpackers not coming to this country. Even before the tax goes in, people are already not coming. They are already changing their plans. They are already deciding they are not going to work on our farms because they have been scared off by this high tax.

This is a mess of the government's own making. As I say, 18 months ago I would have given the Nationals and regional Liberals the benefit of the doubt that maybe they would convince their city colleagues to do the right thing. But I have been sorely disappointed. The Nationals are sitting their mute. They will cross the floor in the Senate over the Adler shotgun. They will make every noise under the sun over 18C so that people can make racist comments. But they will not stand up for farmers and regional communities when it counts.

They will not stand up for jobs. They will not stand up for small businesses in the regions—people who rely on the wages of backpackers when they come through. We need to remember this: backpackers spend nearly all of the money that they earn in regional communities. Are we really willing to forgo that? If they are not coming to Australia, they are not paying tax and they are not spending their money here.

I will now come to the departure tax, the $5 increase—a bigger tax on the way out. Thanks for coming. Here is a bigger tax on the way out. Plus, by the way, we are also taking 95 per cent of your super. Thanks for visiting. Make sure you tell your friends and family what a great time you have had in Australia. What a winning tourism strategy from the so-called party of business! It is absolutely ridiculous. But this was never about regional communities. This was never about getting people onto farms. This was always about a political fix for this government. It saw the bad headlines in the papers, and that is what dragged it into action. It is not about fixing the problem. It is just a political fix.

Tourism bodies know that this departure tax will hurt. Groups in my electorate in Lyons and across Tasmania are saying that this sends the wrong signals. A $5 charge on top of what is already there sends the wrong signals. Tasmania is going through a tourism boom at the moment. It is fantastic. We are full of people. But, if this comes in, what signal does that send? As the member for Paterson quite rightly said, add that to a bigger backpacker tax, and where are people going to go? Are they going to go somewhere where they offer 10 per cent or 15 per cent? We know the answer to that.

There is a lot to say on this issue. I was gagged from my 15 minutes of fame to speak on behalf of my community. I feel so passionately about this. I am so angry about this decision. But I will give other speakers the opportunity to have their say.

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