Todd McClay - Tourism

27 September 2018

The Government continues to prove its only solutions to any issue are working groups or more taxes, with yet another tax confirmed today, National’s Tourism spokesperson Todd McClay says.

“Hot on the heels of two new fuel taxes, including an additional 4 cents per litre being imposed on record petrol prices on Sunday, the Government has confirmed a tourist tax.

“This is on top of more taxes on property, online goods and a likely Capital Gains Tax – as well as axing National’s proposed tax cuts.

“National understands we need to spend more on tourism infrastructure, that’s why we significantly boosted investment while we were in Government.

“But Labour’s latest tax is a flawed mess.

“Our largest tourism market, Australia, is exempt so the justification for the tax – to help pay for pressures created by tourists, is undermined. And the administration costs of collecting the tax will suck up a chunk of the money raised.

“It’s important to note that tourism is one of our largest export earners and the benefits to New Zealand far outweigh the costs.

“According to Deloitte, the Government already collects $3.27 billion a year in international tourism-related revenue and spends $638 million on the industry, receiving a net gain of more than $2.6 billion.

“But these tourists don’t have to come here. We are already expensive to get to and the Government is driving up the cost of living. If the Government continues to add more costs we’ll see fewer people choosing to travel here.

“This is a Government that loves to tax yet continues to recklessly spend that taxpayer money on poor priorities like the $2.8 billion tertiary education bribe, $175 million so far on working groups as well as summits and keeping NZ First happy. If it got its spending under control it wouldn’t need to keep adding new taxes.

“The Government continues to impose costs on the economy which are only going to slow growth. It needs to get its spending under control and focus on growing the economy, not slowing it down.”

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