Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Auditor-General's report No. 8 of 2019-20, entitled Management of the Tourist Refund Scheme. The Tourist Refund Scheme, otherwise known as the TRS, is in place so that travellers leaving Australia can claim a refund of the GST that they have paid on goods purchased in Australia within the previous 60 days.

Australia is one of about 60 countries around the world that have such schemes in place. Offering tourists refunds on goods they purchase here is an incentive for tourists to spend on high-ticket items when they are in Australia. In the 2017-18 financial year, refunds under the TRS included $17.2 million in GST paid on Apple goods, $13.8 million in GST paid on Louis Vuitton products, $10.1 million in GST paid on Gucci goods, $9.1 million in GST paid on Chanel products, $6.2 million in GST paid on Hermes products and $4.3 million in GST paid on Tiffany & Co products.

The TRS has a place for tourists and is important for tourism. But, under this government, this scheme has become a rort. This is because Australia is the only country in the world that allows its citizens and residents to participate in the scheme. An Australian citizen who would ordinarily pay GST on goods—and that GST would go to the state governments to support health, education and infrastructure—can avoid paying this tax if they happen to be travelling overseas. For any goods they buy within 60 days of travel they can then claim the GST back and erode our tax base, even though they will be coming back into the country after their holiday or work trip is over. Since the scheme was created, 41 per cent of all refunds have been paid to Australian citizens and residents, not to actual tourists. That's over $680 million. So, while the Auditor-General's report is titled 'Management of the TRS', it really should be titled 'mismanagement'.

The Australian National Audit Office found there has been between $244.3 million and $556.6 million in GST revenue leakage from the TRS since it commenced. That's half a billion dollars leaked or been paid back to Australians who leave the country with goods, claim a refund on the GST and then come back into the country, ultimately rorting the system. The report goes on to say: 'The money would otherwise have been paid to states and territories.' Is this what Prime Minister Scott Morrison means when he says, 'If you have a go you get a go'? Maybe for his mates at Gore Hill fundraisers it should be, 'If you have a Gore Hill go you get a go'—if you get to rort the system and erode the GST revenue, which is supposed to be going to back to the states and territories to fund schools, public transport, hospitals and infrastructure. Whose side is the Prime Minister on? The side of people who need Tiffany platinum bracelets and Gucci bags who are willing to rort the system, or the rest of us?

Worse still, between 2013 and 2018, under the third-term Liberal government, the Department of Home Affairs stopped issuing penalties for people rorting the scheme. Home affairs minister Peter Dutton has raised a white flag because his department—and I quote the report—'does not consider the TRS to be one to be one of its operational priorities.' Only the Liberals could think that half a billion dollars in leakage isn't a priority. Clear incompetence follows the home affairs minister wherever he goes. There is, for example, the poisonous culture in his department, a blowout of arrivals at our airports claiming asylum, the blowout in bridging visas, a surging number arriving on aeroplanes claiming asylum and the number of people waiting to pledge citizenship in Australia spiralling out of control. Then there is the exploitation of workers in Australia on temporary visas. The Department of Home Affairs and the Minister for Home Affairs haven't taken action to provide protection to an increasing number of exploited workers on temporary work visas. They haven't taken that action. Thousands of workers, mainly from China and Malaysia, are essentially trafficked in Australia.

Last year, a Joint Standing Committee on Migration report talked about temporary work visas being used as a loophole by labour hire companies. Dodgy labour hire companies are deciding who comes to this country. This report is another damning indictment of home affairs minister Peter Dutton's incompetence, waste and mismanagement. (Time expired)

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Road Safety) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Am I right to assume that you seek leave to continue your remarks?

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, thank you.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.