Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make some comments today on the bill before us, the Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Bill 2012. In looking at this piece of legislation, it is interesting to note the comparison between the rates of departure tax, or departure-type tax, for Australia and for the rest of the world. We see a very striking contrast between Australia and other nations. The decision by this government to raise the passenger movement charge by $8, from $47, takes the departure tax to $55 per passenger. When we compare this with other countries, we see a stark contrast, with Australia being taxed far greater than other countries. The Australian dollar equivalent charge for travel outside the European Union is $10 in France and $34 in Germany. New Zealand has a $19 charge and the US has a $14 arrival tax. Here we are in Australia, with a population of roughly 22 million people, we are looking at a passenger movement charge tax of $55, which is really quite extraordinary. It just shows this government's absolute addiction to tax. There is no doubt that this Labor government simply cannot manage money. Whenever we see the government scrambling around trying to somehow manage the economy, they are diving straight to—yes, you guessed it—yet another tax.

The contrast in this area between the coalition and the government is also very stark. Under the Howard government the passenger movement charge only saw reasonably modest increases. From 1996 to 2007 the passenger movement charge rose by only $11, from $27 to $38, which was a rise of only 35 per cent over those 11 years. In contrast, in just five years, this government has increased the passenger movement charge by $17, from $38 to, with this extra increase, $55—a rise of almost 45 per cent. That contrast just cannot be ignored. This government simply has no idea what to do to manage this economy, to run the country, without diving for yet another tax. This year alone there is a 17 per cent annual increase, and that is compared to an expected CPI increase of only 3.25 per cent. We will get to the CPI a little later. That is extraordinary.

As my very good colleague Senator Ronaldson said earlier, the government has simply no regard for the tourism industry—absolutely none whatsoever. Why on earth would you place an impost on an industry to make things tougher for it? We have heard a lot from this government over recent years about the impact of the global financial crisis and how difficult things were in this country. Well, why would they do something to make it harder for tourism? It is simply stupid. Like so many other decisions that we have seen from this government, it is simply stupid.

I digress for just a moment: we now have the Treasurer telling us how well we are going as an economy and how tremendously we are going on the world stage, and the Prime Minister telling people overseas how brilliant our economy is and giving them a finger-wagging talk about what they should be doing—which is quite ridiculous. What the government is not doing is talking to people in the street, in the businesses, in the towns, in their homes. I can tell you what, Mr Acting Deputy President Fawcett, as I know you know full well, people out on the ground in our communities, particularly our regional communities, are doing it very tough. So it is all very well for the Treasurer to say, 'Oh, it is fine; we are all going brilliantly'—he is not talking to people on the ground. He is not talking to hardworking everyday Australians around this nation who are coming to me and saying, 'It is tough.' There is no confidence in this government and, particularly in regional communities, money has stopped moving and they are doing it very tough. So here we have another example of the government making a stupid decision to impose something that will directly affect the tourism industry, which needs help, not hindrance—which needs the government to respect and understand what sort of environment the industry is faced with and to do things that help, not make it more difficult. But this, again, shows the complete ineptitude of this government to properly communicate with industries and with people on the ground to determine what it is that they need to do in terms of policy. Again, this is yet another stuff up.

We will not be opposing this legislation today, as much as we want to. We on this side of the chamber understand what we need to do to ensure a sustainable economy. We understand what we need to do to be fiscally responsible, unlike this government, which has put us in a situation where we now have a debt of around $239 billion. Labor just cannot manage money. Not only can it not manage money; it cannot make a sensible policy decision in the best interests of the Australian people. Here we see that again today.

This government's level of ineptitude is just extraordinary and breathtaking. I know you, Senator Birmingham, understand this very well. Why on earth would the government tax an industry that is doing it tough and that needs assistance? We know why. It is simply a cash grab, because the government has no ability to run the economy. I know I have said this before—and you will get sick of hearing me saying it and I am sure that others will say it after me and have said it before: the Australian people understand that this government has no ability to run the country.