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2008
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2008
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Home Affairs,
the Honourable Bob Debus)
PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2008
OUTLINE
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 to
increase the rate of the Passenger Movement Charge (the Charge) by $9, to $47,
with effect from 1 July 2008.
The increase, announced by the Treasurer in the 2008-09 Budget, will partially
fund national aviation security initiatives that are funded by the Australian
Government.
Since 2001, the Australian Government has spent approximately $1.2 billion
implementing a significant number of national aviation security measures. Up until
the 2011-2012 financial year, spending on national aviation security measures is
expected to exceed $2.2 billion. Currently these costs are not recovered as part of
the Charge.
The $9 increase, as recommended by the central economic agencies and
accepted by the Government, is consistent with the amount by which the Charge
would have increased had the Charge been indexed over the period since it was
last increased on 1 July 2001.
Certain departures of persons from Australia on or after 1 July 2008 will be exempt
from the increase in the rate of the Charge. These are departures that are made
by a person using a ticket or equivalent authority where the ticket or authority was
sold or issued before 1 July 2008.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The increase of the existing $38 Charge to $47 is expected to result in an increase
in revenue of $459.3 million over four years.
PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2008
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
This clause provides for the Bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Passenger
Movement Charge Amendment Act 2008.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause provides for the Bill to commence on 1 July 2008.
Clause 3 - Schedules
This clause is the formal enabling provision for the Schedule to the Bill, providing
that each Act specified in a Schedule is amended in accordance with the
applicable items of the Schedule. In this Bill the Act being amended is the
Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978.
The clause also provides that the other items of the Schedules have effect
according to their terms. This is a standard enabling clause for transitional,
savings and application items in amending legislation. In this Bill there is an
application provision in item 2 of Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 - Amendment
Item 1 - Section 6
This item amends section 6 of the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 (the
Act) to increase the rate of the charge imposed by the Act from $38 to $47.
Item 2 - Application
This item provides that the amendment of the Act made by this Bill applies to the
departure of a person from Australia on or after 1 July 2008, unless the person
departs using a ticket or equivalent authority and the ticket or authority was sold or
issued before 1 July 2008.
Currently, for departures from Australia on commercial and charter airlines and
passenger ships, the Charge is collected entirely under arrangements made under
section 10 of the Passenger Movement Charge Collection Act 1978. Airlines and
shipping companies periodically remit to the Commonwealth an amount equal to
the Charge payable by departing passengers (which is payable at the rate in force
on the date of departure). Where this amount is paid, the departing passenger is
deemed to have paid the Charge. In accordance with these arrangements, an
amount equal to the Charge may be collected from a passenger up to twelve
months prior to their departure.
Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Bill 2008 Page 3
By the time the Bill receives the Royal Assent, airlines will have already sold
several hundred thousand tickets for departures on or after 1 July 2008 and will
have collected only the current amount of the Charge from passengers ie, $38.
The application clause will ensure that the increase in the Charge will not apply to
a departure of a person from Australia on or after 1 July 2008 where the person
departs using a ticket or an equivalent authority and the ticket or authority was
sold or issued before 1 July 2008. Therefore, airlines will only be required to remit
$38 to the Commonwealth in respect of each such departure.