Statements
Politicians acting disgracefully over backpacker tax
The Australian community, and farmers in particular, are sick of politicians arguing like ill-behaved children over the backpacker tax. No wonder politicians are held in contempt when they are so quick to resort to petulant, self-serving behaviour completely devoid of any respect for the public interest.
Yesterday most Senate crossbenchers were ready to support 15%. But today some have gone and changed their mind, even though farmers desperately need certainty and the Tassie producers most relevant to this matter were happy enough with 15%.
While I would prefer to see no backpacker tax at all, it’s clear that the time for political point-scoring is long past and either the Government must today agree to the lower rate of 10.5%, or the Senate must honour their position yesterday.
Andrew Wilkie, Independent MP for Denison