Labor’s threat to jobs in Whitsundays and Bowen

MAY 31, 2018: REPRESENTATIVES from Whitsunday Regional Council who were guests in Question Time today were dismayed to hear the Labor Party begin the session by launching an attack on the removal of GST on superyachts – a move which would cost jobs in the Whitsundays.Labor’s Deputy Leader demonstrated a clear lack of understanding on the issue.I’m sure the Whitsunday Regional Council’s Mayor, CEO and Chief Staff Officer did not expect to hear Labor smashing the Government’s plans to remove the impost of what is essentially an importation tax on superyachts, a GST hit of 10 per cent of the vessel’s worth, just to bring it into Australian waters.What this means is that superyachts opt to go elsewhere – to New Zealand, Pacific islands or Monaco where they aren’t hit with this tax.Cruise liners aren’t subject to this GST hit. So why are superyachts?Every week a superyacht is berthed at a port it provides an injection of approximately $50,000 to the local economy.If Labor is now opposed to changes to the Coastal Trading Act to remove this GST hit, this could mean it will be scuttled in the Senate.That would cost jobs in the Whitsundays.That would mean that the plan to establish the Whitsunday Marine Centre of Excellence at Bowen is at risk because the economics may not stack up without superyachts.Labor has previously told the tourism sector that they would support the removal of the GST on superyachts – which would provide a boost to our tourism sector.They need to make their position clear and stop threatening jobs and growth in the north.