May 12, 2106
The State Government has joined calls from the rural sector urging the Federal Government to scrap the “backpacker tax” before it harms Queensland’s agricultural and tourism industries.
Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson said on Thursday the message to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison from Queensland was clear.
“Today the Queensland Parliament has spoken out to protect the State’s farmers who rely on working holiday visa holders to harvest, process and package their produce,” Ms Donaldson said.
“The Parliament has also voted to support our tourism and hospitality operators who will be severely impacted if this ill-considered tax-raising measure goes ahead from July 1.
“Fruit growers and horticulturists are telling me they fear produce will rot in the fields because there won’t be anyone to harvest it.”
From July 1, working holiday visa holders will no longer be allowed a tax-free threshold meaning they will be taxed on every dollar they earn while in Australia at a rate of 32.5c.
Ms Donaldson said the tax would deter holidaymakers from visiting Australia.
“Rural and regional economies will be damaged,” she said.
“It is already having an impact because international backpackers are well aware that the changes are imminent and they are heading to other countries, like New Zealand and Canada instead.
“Hundreds of thousands of backpackers come to Queensland each year and spend approximately $900 million a year.
“The wages they earn helping our farmers to harvest their produce is spent in hostels and hotels, in bars and restaurants, in cafes and bakeries and shops in small towns throughout our State.
“There is widespread despair in those communities that backpackers will simply stop coming. The money they spend to support those communities will be lost.
“We simply can’t afford for that to happen.
“The Palaszczuk Government has been calling for the tax to be abolished for more than a year and now the Queensland Parliament has endorsed that call.”
Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the backpacker tax would hit Queensland the hardest.
“The Federal Government already slugs backpackers with a $440 working visa fee, now they want tax them more than 30 cents in the dollar from the very first dollar they earn in Australia,” Ms Jones said.
“We know that our State will be hit hardest by this tax with more than half of the 600,000 backpackers who come to Australia working and holidaying in Queensland.
“We should be making it easier, not harder for people to holiday and work in Queensland and I call on Mr Turnbull to abandon this tax once and for all.”
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