Portfolio Media

Copenhagen: Kevin Rudd's latest plan to kill tourism

24 December 2009

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson need to come clean on the impact on tourism from a new plan to tax air travel and shipping, says Shadow Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo.

Mr Ciobo’s comments follow news of plans discussed at Copenhagen for increased taxes on international aviation and shipping.

“The industry deserves to know what the impact of this will be – just what is the level of these new taxes" How much will they hurt the industry? How will it affect the increasingly lucrative cruise market? The industry deserves some more detail,” Mr Ciobo said.

Mr Rudd was reportedly involved in negotiations between developed and African nations which have mooted raising billions of dollars through proposed new airline levies in a move purported to help fight climate change.

But Mr Ciobo said any move to hike taxes on air travel would have a profound impact on Australia’s aviation industry and a tourism sector which employs 500,000 Australians.

“Mr Rudd and Minister Ferguson have some explaining to do to both of these industries. As if the Rudd Government’s tax on everything ETS wasn’t enough of a whack for domestic tourism, now Labor has found a way to hit the inbound tourism market, too.

“In Labor-land it’s all very well to tax something to fund your ideological obsessions, but in his zeal to stand large on the world stage, the Prime Minister seems to have forgotten he has an $89billion tourism industry back home.

Mr Ciobo said talk of yet another tax for the tourism industry came after the Rudd Labor Government had already lumped $1billion in new taxes on the sector which had fought the dual battle of the global financial crisis and the high Aussie dollar.

“As the industry gets back on its feet, this is the last thing the inbound market needs,” Mr Ciobo said.