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tourism | September 20, 2024

Short-stay tax an attack on regional communities

Member for Lowan and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Emma Kealy has lashed the Allan Labor Government’s decision to introduce a new tax on short-stay accommodation providers.

From January next year, a 7.5% tax will apply to all short-term accommodation bookings, including the hundreds of airbnbs and similar short-stay options in Lowan.

Ms Kealy said Labor planned to generate $60 million each year through this new holiday tax, but rural and regional Victoria would not benefit.

“As we see time and again with this government, the revenue will be spent on projects in Melbourne, even though most of the tax revenue will actually be raised in rural and regional Victoria,” she said.

“This is a deliberate and desperate cash-grab from a government that has overseen record blowouts on metropolitan projects and has put our state in a perilous financial position.

“This tax is an attack on our local businesses and particularly on women, as most airbnb hosts are women entrepreneurs running their own small business. It is also an attack on the businesses that rely on tourism, and on the jobs that are created by these small-scale tourism operators in our region.”

Ms Kealy is concerned the unnecessary tax will deter tourists from the region at a time when cost of living increases are already starting to impact visitor spend.

“Labor’s decision will also have significant consequences for victims of family violence, because short-stay accommodation often serves as emergency housing due to the substantial shortage of purpose-built options in our region,” she said.

“If Labor’s short-stay taxes are put in place, it will shrink the options for family violence to find shelter.

“It will force them to stay with their perpetrators for longer or will render them homeless. That is not an outcome that any member of Parliament should be supporting.

“Labor’s terrible tax will only serve to make Victoria a less attractive and more expensive destination, and rural and regional Victoria will pay the price.”