Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Mate, I know you love it! I know you love it! The package encourages working holiday makers to visit Australia by reducing the application charge for working holiday maker visas by $50, and $10 million will also be made available for Tourism Australia to market Australia to potential backpackers in key overseas markets. We are also increasing the eligibility age for 417 and 462 visas from 30 to 35.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

Hang on! There's more, Joel. This increases the pool of possible working holiday makers and brings us into line with our competitors. We have also responded to industry feedback by introducing more flexible working arrangements.

Working holiday makers are currently permitted to work for one employer for a maximum of six months. Some employers, particularly in the hospitality and meat processing industries, have argued that working holiday makers should be able to work for the same employer in different locations over a longer period of time. The government has listened to those concerns and will allow working holiday makers to work for one employer for up to twelve months, with six months in a single location. This will provide more opportunities for working holiday makers to put newly-learned skills to good use.

I mentioned earlier the issue of lack of budget responsibility by our friends, the Australian Labor Party. These measures will, importantly, be budget neutral. It is important that the costs of the measures that we put in place are balanced with additional revenue to cover them. These measures have a cost to budget of around $350 million over the forward estimates. These costs must be fully offset. Offsets are not easy to find, and they are not always popular, but we are up to the task of repairing the budget. We do not shirk our budgetary responsibility, as those opposite do. Labor spent six years avoiding the hard decisions. We cannot repeat their mistakes.

To offset the costs of these measures, the government will be modestly increasing the passenger movement charge by $5 from 1 July. This is broadly in line with inflation and will be the first increase in that charge since 2012. The government will also increase the departing Australia superannuation payments tax for working holiday makers to 95 per cent. Working holiday makers can withdraw the balance of their superannuation when they depart Australia and their visa expires or is cancelled.

These funds are typically spent offshore and not to the benefit of the Australian economy. Superannuation is intended to support Australian workers in their retirement—not foreigners. So, using the working holiday makers' superannuation to fund their lower tax rate is, I believe, good policy. It puts money in their hands while they are in Australia, so that they can stay longer and see more of this great country. Importantly, this measure does not place any additional burden or red tape on employers. Foreigners also remain equivalent to locals with regard to employment, and the superannuation is preserved for those working holiday makers who may go on to become permanent residents.

The peak tourism season and the main harvest period is just around the corner. The coalition gave a commitment to have a resolution to this matter in place by 1 January. Prolonging the uncertainty about this issue would let farmers down, and that is why Labor's decision to refer this to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee is utterly reckless.

This is yet another example of Labor playing politics with a serious issue. They have done it with same-sex marriage; they have done it with Medicare; they have done it with renewable energy—and now they are using our farmers as political pawns. If these bills are not passed, the ATO will tax many working holiday makers as non-residents. That is the law as it stands. Continuing with the status quo is not an option.

The National Farmers Federation made the position of the agriculture sector quite clear when they said:

Farmers can’t wait until the end of the year, or even next year, for a resolution of the issue…

After refusing to declare its hand on the backpacker tax all year, Labor decides to intervene at the eleventh hour to block a solution that would see an extra $2000 in every backpacker’s pocket.

This is unacceptable and we call on Labor to respect all the decent hard working Australian farmers who feed and clothe us every day by passing the ‘backpacker tax’ bills in the Parliament.

There is no justification for any further delay.

These bills need to be passed as a matter of priority. The shadow Treasurer confirmed that Labor is trying to walk both sides of the street on this issue. They want to keep the $540 million from the 2015 budget measure in their costings, but they do not want to make the hard decisions to offset the cost of the reform package. Despite talking a big game on budget repair, Labor refuses to make the difficult decisions.

Labor's recklessness will have real consequences in my electorate. We have a vibrant and growing horticulture industry on the North Coast of New South Wales, with the blueberry industry growing rapidly. Blueberries are a particularly labour-intensive crop, as they must be picked entirely by hand. With the rapid growth of the industry, the demand for seasonal labour has been increasing to a dramatic extent. Of course, our tourism sector is also heavily dependent on seasonal labour and the influx of backpackers during the blueberry harvest. Labor's plans to delay this package of reforms will just create uncertainty for farmers, processors and tourism operators throughout the Cowper electorate. I call on Labor and the crossbench members and senators to pass these bills for the sake of our farmers, our tourism industry and the national economy.

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