Industry outraged at Labor plan to raise passenger levy
 

Fri "The Australian"

Industry outraged at Labor plan to raise passenger levy
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
September 10, 2004

LABOR'S proposal to increase the airline passenger movement charge from $38 to $50 is a massive slug on an industry still recovering from SARS, global conflict and the Ansett collapse, according to a peak tourism group.

Tourism and Transport Forum managing director Chris Brown said the increase would be a revenue windfall for a Labor government at the expense of an industry that was already over-taxed.

Mr Brown said the passenger movement increase would only compound an already unfair tax regime for tourism and transport, putting pressure on operators to cut costs and slash jobs. "Tourism is not a cash cow that can be milked endlessly," Mr Brown said.

"Last year alone, the passenger movement charge squeezed between $60 million and $90 million out of our industry in over-recovery of costs."

The increase, part of Opposition Leader Mark Latham's newly released tax package to help fund income tax cuts, is the latest in a string of passenger taxes and charges to slug airline passengers.

Virgin Blue head of strategy and communications David Huttner said both parties seemed to think air passengers were "a bottomless pit of money to be tapped for various pet projects".

He said the increases in taxes and charges were damaging to tourism and to the bottom lines of businesses and households.

"Policies such as these are offsetting the gains the travelling public and the business community have achieved through the advent of low fares in Australia," he said.

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Hi, Y’all,

It’s me again.

This here Wirraway’s tryin’ to tell ya ’bout ‘nother nail in ya coffin, and not a beep, not a one, yet this Smith fella ’least talks savin loot, even if y’all reckon it aint true.

Guess y’all must figure the dole ‘ll be better under Labor, but way I read it, aint gunna be so.

Suppose I gotta respect y’all’s political convictions, t’ sacrifice a career t’ get rid of a Government which don’t toe the union line.

Yehaaaah
’t ‘li’l fella.

if my memory serves me, wasnt this new tax on air travel to pay for his tax cut for lowers income earners (those who are less likely to be able to afford an international holiday) along with another tax increase for cigarettes?

You may have picked up that I am not in favour of another Howard/Coalition term.

But even I think this proposal is dumb economics - true cash cow thinking.

I would have expected something a bit more creative, especially when the Federal Government is awash with money from other tax revenues right now.

Poor show.

So now a$12 increase is milking the cash cow? On an average ticket price of what? $500, $800?

At least Labor have announced it now rather than wait until elected. Which somehow does not look likely.

Icarus2001

Yeh it is milking the cash cow when you look at all the other taxes that various governments over the past have dumped on the poor unsuspecting public. To name just a few you have the departures tax, airport levy, noise levy, security levy, etc etc. Just to quantify how much the government is taking in an $800 ticket, depending on which airport in Australia it can be as high as $100.00. Oh and don’t forget there is GST on all of that as well. I’m frankly sick to death of big spending government of all persuasions. The sooner that someone has the balls to do something about government spending, i.e. Social Security, and hand back the huge budget surpluses in tax reductions for everyone, the sooner Australia can rid itself of the label as the second highest taxed nation on Earth.

Hi good peoples.

I have found that Australia is taxing its departing passengers at a higher level than most other countries.

Take for instance a journey Auckland Jakarta via Sydney, for the sake of the arguement using the red rat. The taxes on this trip are $118.00. If you simply fly Sydney Jakarta return the taxes are $135.90.

Doesn't make a lot of sense does it?

Best regards

EWL

sadly more often than not, on a staff travel ticket, the taxes are more then the total cost of the air fare!