While the National Farmers' Federation holds grave fears for what the federal government's proposed "backpacker tax" would do to the agriculture industry, local shearer Hilton Barrett says it won't affect his shearing business, Help 'em Shearing.
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The NFF considers an effective tax rate of 19 per cent (achieved through deactivation of the tax-free threshold) to be fairer on backpackers and the industries that rely on them, while if the "backpacker tax" proceeds, from July 1 all holiday-makers will be taxed at a rate of 32.5 per cent on all income.
Mr Barrett said many travellers would be unlikely to submit their tax returns once they'd left the country and while it could still deter them from travelling to Australia, it wouldn't affect his local shearing business which employs 98 per cent Australian employees.
For him, he said the problem was the number of Australians who were unwilling to work.
"There's enough workers in Australia to do all of our jobs if they stopped the dole," he said.
"They come here for two hours or a day and they don't come back. A shed-hand can earn $180 a day and all he has to do is get out of bed and go to work."
Meanwhile the National Farmers' Federation has launched a petition to stop the "backpacker tax", and a media campaign (#backpackertax).
"The agriculture industry relies on backpackers to fill severe labour shortages which are often seasonal and temporary, for example, when crops are being harvested or milk production is at its peak," NFF Workforce Productivity Committee chair Charlie Armstrong said.
He said backpackers were critical to ensuring an adequate workforce was available to primary producers.
"Each year, backpackers contribute around $3.5 billion to the Australian economy and around 40,000 find employment on Australian farms.
"Taxing backpackers at a rate of 32.5 per cent will make work in Australian agriculture a highly unprofitable proposition.
"Furthermore, it will lead to reduced agricultural productivity and will strip regional communities and businesses of much-needed tourism spending.
"Already we are seeing signs that the proposed tax rate of 32.5 per cent is scaring working holiday-makers away from Australia.
"In nations like Canada and New Zealand, they are just as likely to be able to find farm work that attracts substantially lower amounts of taxation.
"Any further decline will only exacerbate the current trend of 12 per cent fewer backpacker arrivals to Australia each year".
The implementation of a 32.5 per cent tax rate has been estimated by government to raise $540 million of the forward estimates, while a rate of 19 per cent, as proposed by the NFF, would generate $315.7 million.
Mr Armstrong said any perceived losses incurred in containing the rate at 19 per cent would be dwarfed by the serious economic impacts of reduced backpacker tourism and associated agricultural losses a 32.5 per cent rate would bring.
"What is the point of increasing revenue through the implementation of this tax only to strip back the contribution of agriculture, tourism and regional spending to the economy?" he said.
"We urge farmers and other industry stakeholders, as well as the broader public to join us in demonstrating the importance of backpackers to agriculture, tourism and the regions by signing the online petition."
To join the petition go to https://www.change.org/p/australian-government-stop-the-backpacker-tax
