Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Kangaroo Island is a wonderful community and a very special part of my electorate of Mayo. In South Australia it is a hotspot for both agriculture and tourism. However, Kangaroo Island is also very remote, much more so than a quick glance at the map might lead you to conclude.

There is just over 20 kilometres of water between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw, but there is a big difference in the cost of living. Food is very expensive, services are very expensive, as it is to come on and off the island. As of the 2011 census and, despite being about four times the size of metropolitan Adelaide, the island had a population of only 4,417 people. That gives you a sense of its isolation.

The waters between Kangaroo Island and the mainland are quite treacherous. At many times of the year the ferries are unable to run for reasons of safety. The disadvantage faced by Islanders also extends to the difficulty they have in accessing many government-funded services, particularly health and higher education services. The ferry currently is the cheapest method of getting off and on the island and costs approximately $190 return. For many families, this is a prohibitive amount to access government and social services as often as they may require.

In 2009, the Kangaroo Island Watergap Recognition Report noted that the standard return passenger ferry fare to North Stradbroke Island from mainland Queensland was $11, and that is a return distance of just over 25 kilometres. This worked out to be just 43 cents per kilometre travelled. And yet the same standard passenger fare for Kangaroo Island works out to be $2.32 per kilometre—five times more expensive!

There is a high cost of freight to the island, and that affects everything on the island—from coffee through to buying cornflakes in the supermarket. The cost of goods and services is higher again than the extra freight alone. One result of this is a lack of competition, and an example of this is that there is currently no health clinic on the island which bulk bills its patients.

The Kangaroo Island community has asked me to table a petition on their behalf. This petition has been signed by more than 779 residents, which is 15 per cent of the entire population of Kangaroo Island. The community is asking to be part of Tax Zone B. In practical terms, this would compensate for the geographic disadvantage faced by Kangaroo Islanders and would be a direct tax offset, not a deduction. In the case of Tax Zone B, it would put tax back into the pockets of individuals and families. A two-parent family could be eligible for rebates of between $376 for their first child and $276 for each subsequent child, depending on their age and educational status. It would be a real bonus to families and to business owners on Kangaroo Island.

Other major Australian islands already receive this favourable tax treatment. For example, if you look at Magnetic Island off Townsville, it is in Tax Zone B; and it is only eight kilometres off the mainland.

In support of this petition I have written an extensive letter to the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon. Kelly O'Dwyer. Mr Speaker, I would like to table the petition here and I seek leave to do that.

Leave granted.

In conclusion I would like to thank every resident of Kangaroo Island for taking the opportunity to sign this petition and for being so active on this issue as a community. This change in tax status would make a tremendous difference to my community of Kangaroo Island. It would put more money into the pockets of Kangaroo Islanders and allow them even greater opportunity to thrive.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The document will be forwarded to the Standing Committee on Petitions for its consideration and will be accepted subject to the confirmation by the committee that it conforms with the standing orders.