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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Bill
1998
Date Introduced: 28 May 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Industry, Science and Tourism
Commencement: 1 January 1999
To increase the
rate of the Passenger Movement Charge from $27 to $30.
The Passenger Movement Charge (previously called
the Departure Tax) was introduced by the Passenger Movement
Charge Act 1978. It is a charge levied on passengers leaving
Australia for an overseas destination and is collected by airlines
and shipping companies as part of their ticketing arrangements.
The original rate of the charge was $10. This
was increased to $20 in 1981, but then reduced to $10 in 1988. In
1991 the rate was increased to $20, and to $25 in 1994. It was
further increased from $25 to $27 in 1995 when the name of the
charge was changed from 'departure tax' to 'passenger movement
charge'. This Bill seeks to increase the charge by another $3 to
$30 from 1 January 1999. Announcement of the change was made in the
Budget.(1)
Revenue collected from the passenger movement
charge totalled $200 million in 1997-98 and is estimated to raise a
total of $217 million in 1998-99.(2) The $3 increase will raise an
estimated $77.3 million in additional revenue over the four years
to 2001-02.(3)
The money raised from the passenger movement
charge is used to recover the costs of processing international
travellers through customs, immigration and quarantine procedures
at Australia's borders, and the costs of issuing short-term visas.
Some of the revenue from the $3 increase in the charge will go
towards meeting additional costs associated with the movement of
people and goods expected for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.(4)
Revenue raised by the passenger movement charge
has also been used to help promote tourism to Australia. In the
1998-99 Budget documents, the proposal to increase the charge was
linked to additional funding for tourism promotion and development
totalling $58 million over four years.(5) The Australian Tourist
Commission is to receive an extra $50 million to encourage more
tourism from existing markets such as Europe and North America. $8
million is to be spent over four years on initiatives and
infrastructure to develop and promote regional Australia as an
attractive tourist destination.(6)
The proposed increase in the Passenger Movement
Charge has excited little comment. The Tourism Council of Australia
has been reported as saying that the tourism industry can 'live
with the increase...given that this is the first time the charge
has been increased since...1995'.(7)
Item 1 of Schedule 1 increases the rate of the
Passenger Movement Charge from $27 to $30. The amendment will apply
to those passengers leaving Australia on or after 1 January 1999
(Item 2).
- Budget Speech, House of Representatives,
Debates, 12 May 1998, 3008.
- Budget Strategy and Outlook 1998-99, (Budget Paper
No.1), 5-11.
- Budget Measures 1998-99, (Budget Paper No.2),
2-19.
- Ibid., 2-20.
- Ibid., 1-74.
- 'Asian tourist decline spurs big spending on visitor
promotion', Age, 13 May 1998, B12.
- Senator N Minchin in answer to a Question Without Notice,
Senate, Debates, 14 May 1998, 2754.
Rosemary Bell
1 June 1998
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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