Travel levy to assist funding consular services

[dajop]

Travel tax plan to fund consuls


Putting aside of course ever increasing passport fees and passenger service charges ....

AUSTRALIANS could pay a travel levy for foreign trips and higher fees for passports under a plan to offset the soaring costs of helping those who get into strife overseas.A damning parliamentary report has found Australia's diplomats have had three decades of ''chronic underfunding'', just as the Gillard government launches a new blueprint for developing ties with Asia.
The report finds the growing burden of consular support for the thousands of Australians in trouble overseas - including high-profile cases such as Melinda Taylor, the lawyer imprisoned in Libya - is limiting the ability of diplomats to properly represent the country.
Last year, the Foreign Affairs Department helped about 14,500 Australians in difficulty, such as those who were arrested overseas, and more than 200,000 Australians needed some form of minor consular help, such as for lost passports.​

 

[Mal]

How about instead creating a "stupid tax" and charging for consulate help where someone has been stupid.

 

[ckck]

Just create a user pays system. If you need help you pay for it.


I don't do jetlag.

 

[Isochronous]

Compulsory travel insurance perhaps for trips over a certain period of time (e.g. 7 days?)

I don't want to be taxed again to pay for silly bogans like the Corbys importing drugs into Bali or that idiot mother who tried to steal a bar mat in Thailand and then cried foul when she was arrested for theft.

 

[casanovawa]

These current clowns only know how to tax and spend like drunken sailors....

 

[tuapekastar]

Like a report is going to come out and say they are overfunded??

 

[whatmeworry]

Great! Passport prices have doubled in the last ten years and they want to increase it more! Just get rid of the baby bonus so we can stop the bogans breeding!

 

[eastwest101]

Silly me thought that existing taxes plus rises in passport fees and departures tax would have been able to cover the increasing work load and cost of providing assistance to australians overseas.

Seriously though - it would be good to see some embassies re-open, all things considered I think they do a good job.

The combination of the high AUD has really been responsible for record amounts of australians travelling overseas, but also don't forget the large amount of australians residing in or travelling to work in some pretty interesting parts of the world in asia, africa & south america. These overseas residents became the target of increased taxation a few years ago which has encouraged a lot of them to stay working overseas for longer periods to avoid the double taxation in the overseas country and in the australian tax system. So maybe add this to the list of "unintended consequences"....

 

[froggerADL]

These current clowns only know how to tax and spend like drunken sailors....

I thought that the tax take as a percentage of GDP was lower now than under the Howard government. And some people keep insisting that we are in a recession.

 

[haydensydney]

Not hugely impressed by a levy on airfares - what about people like myself (who aren't Australian citizens) who would have to pay for the tax but would never be able to claim Australian consular assistance? I'm all for a hike on passport application as this would ensure only Australian's would be charged.

 

[TonyHancock]

Personally I'd like to see a significant levy introduced. This would allow minor public servants^ in DFAT to fly F around the world dealing with minor problems. A good use of my contribution I feel.*


* For the more literal this post is mostly sarcastic with a touch of irony. (I hesitate to call it amusing.)
^ Yes I know our minor public servants are hard working, don't get to keep the points and carefully watch expenditure. (Did I miss anything before said minor public servants set about me?)

 

[drron]

I thought that the tax take as a percentage of GDP was lower now than under the Howard government. And some people keep insisting that we are in a recession.

A great use of statistics to prove what you would desire.
First GDP has increased by 40%-using the production count method of determining GDP.The Governments contribution to this figure is up 33%,households 25%.Ie the government spending is becoming proportionally more of the measure.This is for the period 2006/07 to 2010/11.
In that time employee percentage of total income has fallen from 54% to 53%.
1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2012

As to a recession in certainly may not be visible in all the capitals(though Hobart may disagree) but I can asure you in regional areas it is certainly apparent with regular business closures.Why just this week the discount chain that includes Crazy Clarks and Chickenfeed has gone into voluntary liquidation-if the very cheap end of retail is having a problem there is definitely a problem.Bankruptcies are back to where they were in 2009/10.And that is more so in QLD.

So I also dont want to see another travel levy.(disclosure I have an obvious bias).
User pays should very much be way to go.

 

[Nelsoncc]

This has to be one of the stupidest things ive ever heard.
That said, with the current Government and its nanny-state policies...i would not be surprised in the slightest.
Though, its quite scarey that 1 in 5 travel without insurance....How about we just let natural selection work it out in places like Thailand or Bali

 

[simongr]

More people travelling means more people getting into trouble. I agree that people should take some responsibility for themselves and I have no time for the "oh is is illegal to bring canabis into your country crowd?" - but more people travelling to more exotic destinations than previously is implicitly going to lead to more problems and there is a need for support. I don't think an increased levy is the answer but we do need to recognise that not everyone that needs consular help is at fault. If someone mugs you and steals your passport - is that your fault (assuming you aren't doing something like flashing your passport around in a dodgy neighbourhood)?

 

[Blackadder]

No, no and no to any proposed "levy" On the trevel insurance side of things, people that refuse Travel insurance are made to sign a waiver, saying it has been offered and they chose not to accept. Therfore any problems they are wholely and Solely liable for. On the Embassy/Consulate assistance side of things, if you can't respect the laws of the country you are visiting, why should it be up to the Australian Govt to bail you out.

 

[dajop]

but we do need to recognise that not everyone that needs consular help is at fault. If someone mugs you and steals your passport - is that your fault (assuming you aren't doing something like flashing your passport around in a dodgy neighbourhood)?

Yes but then it's user pays,and I assume claimable on travel insurance if not at fault, as there already are fees for "Lost/Stolen travel documents" ....
(two columns are fees for adults/children)

[TD="class: tablesubheading, bgcolor: #EEEEEE, colspan: 3"]Lost/stolen travel documents
[/TD]

[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]One travel document lost/stolen in 5 years[/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$103[/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$103[/TD]

[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Two travel documents lost/stolen in 5 years[/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$233[/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$233[/TD]

[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]Three or more travel documents lost/stolen in 5 years

The relevant lost or stolen fee is payable in addition to the normal application fee. [/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$467[/TD]
[TD="class: tablecolumn, bgcolor: #FFFFFF"]A$467[/TD]

 

[anat0l]

I got a better idea.

Just abolish the whole "consular assistance" thing altogether. Apart from possibly establishing identity, emergency passports and expatriation during established civil unrest or Acts of God, eliminate the whole 'drawing on consular assistance if in legal trouble etc.'

I really don't see why people overseas should have the protection of their country. Mind you, we barely have access to such protections when we are at home anyway.

Reminds me of the "preamble" which is at the front of Australian passports:

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, being the representative in Australia of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him or her every assistance and protection of which he or she may stand in need.

Now that I reflect on that statement, it's actually become clear how much of a naive and moronic anathema that really is.

That said, some situations likely require some sort of intervention - perhaps like that lawyer who was stuck in Libya - and I'm not sure exactly how one should deal with those situations (I would've supposed the 'user pays' system and then travel insurance offsets the cost of legal etc. complications for the affected person). I'm not sure how many other really "legitimate" situations there are for drawing upon consular assistance (apart from lost or stolen passports), but the majority of reports (yes, I know this is news sensationalism obviously at work) seem to suggest that the call for consular help is farcical and held in low esteem.

I'm actually curious as to what those 14,500 arrests overseas were charged with, and how many of them were falsely accused. If the majority of them were genuinely committing an offence under the relevant jurisdiction, then I believe that the idea that more consular assistance is required is a farce, and that any cost cutting should focus on punishing those who flout the laws of the countries they visit and disregarding consular assistance to such people. I think this will also reflect better on Australia - when we don't help idiotic citizens overseas and disavow their connection with this nation, we become a better nation overall by upholding a social and moral stance and standard.

 

[The Rok]

Just make travel insurance compulsory. It's no different to car insurance. Every person heading over seas should be obliged to hold the minimum travel policy.

 

[markis10]

These current clowns only know how to tax and spend like drunken sailors....

Given the success of the mining tax, I am not sure they are even competent in that department!

 

[drron]

Given the success of the mining tax, I am not sure they are even competent in that department!

Or as one wag put it-only now can Wayne Swan claim to be the best treasurer in the world.No one before him has ever been able to introduce a tax that raised nothing.Should be more of it!