I rise to oppose the Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Bill 2026. I oppose it because this is another tax increase from a Labor government that seems to believe the answer to every problem is to make Australians pay more. This government is addicted to tax. They're chasing Australians down the road for the last $2 in their pocket. I remember what Kerry Packer once said: 'Why would you give the government any more money? Look at the way they're spending it.' I think that applies equally to the Albanese Labor government.

This particular tax will hurt an industry that's enormously important to Australia and absolutely vital to regional Australia. That's tourism. Under this bill, Labor wants to increase the passenger movement charge—effectively Australia's departure tax—by another $10, from $70 to $80, from 1 January next year. That represents another 14.3 per cent increase, just 2½ years after the last rise.

If this bill passes, the charge will have increased from $60 to $80 between June 2024 and January 2027. That's a 33 per cent increase in little more than 2½ years. And what's Labor's justification? The government expects to collect another $745 million over the forward estimates. That tells you what this is really about. It's a revenue grab and it's another toxic tax.

Australia is already an expensive country to reach. We are a long-haul destination for most of the world, and international visitors already face significant airfares. At $80, our passenger movement charge will sit at the very high end of international departure taxes. Countries including our near neighbour New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and France all impose substantially lower charges.

The people who know the industry best are warning the government about the consequences. The Australian Airports Association has warned about the impact on price-sensitive travellers and Australia's tourism competitiveness. The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia has criticised the increase, the lack of consultation and the impact on international airfares. The Tourism & Transport Forum says the industry was blindsided, while Cruise Lines International Association Australasia has also raised concerns about Australia's competitiveness.

Please, government, listen to these authoritative bodies, because, when our international visitors decide Australia is too expensive, the loss doesn't stop at the airport. It reaches the motel, the cafe, the pub, the cellar door, the tour operator, the caravan park, the restaurant—small businesses in communities right across Australia, right across regional Australia.

I know just how important that is because I represent one of the most beautiful parts of the country. The Lyne electorate takes in extraordinary parts of both the Barrington Coast and Port Macquarie-Hastings. The Barrington Coast has more than 190 kilometres of coastline, 15 national parks and 38 rivers. We have Forster-Tuncurry and Wallis Lake, the Manning River and Manning Valley, Seal Rocks and the Myall Lakes, Harrington and Crowdy Head—