SENATOR KRISTINA KENEALLY
DEPUTY LABOR LEADER IN THE SENATE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
LABOR SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

JULIE COLLINS MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE 
MEMBER FOR FRANKLIN


HIGH COURT RULING ANOTHER MORRISON MISTAKE
 

The Morrison-Joyce Government’s ill-conceived and rushed backpacker tax has been exposed again with the High Court finding it discriminated against workers from some countries that have a tax treaty with Australia.

Australian taxpayers will foot the bill for Scott Morrison’s latest bungled policy with the Australian Taxation Office likely to be forced to hand back taxes collected from up to 75,000 backpackers.

This embarrassing mistake is just the latest Josh Frydenberg fumble, with the courts now ruling against this Liberal-National Government’s tax twice in the three years he’s been Treasurer.

The backpacker tax only passed the Parliament in 2016 because of the support of the National Party and a dirty deal with the Greens. There have been many losers, including producers and growers.

The timing of the tax was terrible, when farmers were already facing huge workforce shortage challenges which the Morrison-Joyce Government is still yet to fix.

The backpacker tax introduced a 15 per cent income tax rate on backpacker workers with earnings under $18,200.

The Government introduced the backpacker tax without any consultation with industry or other countries.

Today’s judgement is what you can expect when governments makes policy on the run.

WEDNESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2021