Working Holiday Maker Visa Review Online portal submissions — Free text

Name

Chris Rutter

Date Lodged

24 Aug 2016 8:51:15 PM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

We have a ten acre property. We attempt to be self sufficient. We are pensioners.We enjoy having WWOOF ers on our property. We were in a post code where their input on the property could be used towards a second year visa. We included them in all of our social activities, took them to the coast for bar-b-que's, even invited them to join our family for Christmas. We treated them much the same as our grown children and we still keep in touch with many of them. They love Australia, they envy our lifestyle ,they enjoy us as people and some wish that their parents could do the same. They spend money in our shops, camp sites , bus companies ,tourist venues etc. It is amazing how much territory they cover.Why would we want to make it unattractive for them to come here and all for a tax pittance. Certainly we should stamp out abuse of the WOOFER

concept and give them a method for lodging complaints against abuse. They are lovely kids, lets make them welcome.

Name

marcus burns

Date Lodged

24 Aug 2016 8:49:34 PM

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Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

Our business is totally reliant on backpackers for seasonal harvest work. We do employ local workers for the duration of the year in part time and full time work. It takes us 12 months to grow our fruit and only have a window of 10 days to harvest a variety. WITH THE IMPENDING LOSS OF MAY AGRICULTURAL ENTITIES THE GAINS OF REVENUE FROM A TAX INCREASE WILL PALE COMPARED TO THE DECIMATION OF MANY BUSINESSES AFFECTED DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY !

Name

Jean Clayton

Date Lodged

24 Aug 2016 11:06:41 PM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

I am retired and living alone on my rural property. I have relied on Woofers to support my work in natural resource management on a degraded agricultural property of hobby farm size, in clearing debris such as fallen logs, building rock walls and replanting native vegetation. Since the change in visa regulations the number of backpackers seeking a volunteer placement on my property has fallen from over 60 last year to only one so far this year. This has severely impacted on the work I can achieve. I do not consider that these volunteers were exploited as many had few skills or understandings about biodiversity and conservation but we're eager to learn, share projects and communicate to learn English. I provided practical help and language/cultural education working alongside Woofers at all times and signed off to support visa extension where this could be supported for genuine effort. I also provided very high levels of accommodation and living in my home, good food and use of my vehicle. I am also aware that other locals with small agribusiness enterprises such as growing raspberries or native plants in my area who took Woofers have been severely impacted.

Name

Steve Ince

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 2:32:41 AM

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Organisation

Organisation name

Kinglake Homestead P/l

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

I was involved with the WWOOF organization and visa holders were volunteer workers. They were well rewarded in non cash ways, and many of my visitors would not have been physically capable of performing as paid horticultural workers in a commercial enterprise. These type of visitor are now excluded from the extended visa program. As a result my accommodation occupancy rate has dropped from about 50 nights a week to 3 nights a month. Most visitors have cash to spend and spend their earnings, they do not benefit from many Govt services like Medicare, they bring more money than they take from the economy, so should not be taxed more heavily than Australian workers. Of the hundreds of applicants that I have had over many years, I have only had four Australians request positions, and only two have actually stayed.

Name

Penny Domeney

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 7:11:44 AM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Organisation

Organisation name

MBuckley & PDomeney

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

Backpackers travel across the globe to experience life in a country other than their own. They must take responsibility for their wellbeing because there is no (Australian) welfare system to support them during travel whilst in Australia. This motivation to experience the new, and to find work to maintain themselves, is missing more and more in Australian labour. Whilst our core team on the dairy farm has one Australian (out of 5), the backpackers we employ for temporary work make it possible for our farm to produce milk for the full season. If backpackers were to become as hard to find as reliable and motivated Australians are in rural farming, our business would have to downsize. The ripple effect to our local community would be significant - the farm turns over >$2 million annually. A relative small proportion of this would leave Australia in the pockets of backpackers, the remainder staying in and around our region, but its the backpackers that make it possible to remain sustainable at our optimal production level.

Name

Mark Allanby

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 10:53:04 AM

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Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

With out backpackers / working holiday makers , I would be unable to harvest & pack my cherry crop .

They are an invaluable part of my business . Very concerned this new tax proposal will deter this essential part of our seasonal work force.

Name

James McClymont

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 10:34:53 AM

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Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

Letter to John Cobb our local Federal member and his forwarding it to Barnaby Joyce's office.

James McClymont

Reply|

27/05/2015

Minister Barnaby Joyce ([e-mail]);

John Cobb MP ([e-mail])

Dear Minister,

At the suggestion of your office staff in Tamworth I am forwarding you copy of the email I recently sent to Mr John Cobb for your consideration and comments, thank you in anticipation of you reading this.

Yours faithfully,

James McClymont.

Hi John,

Thought I must let you know what the effect will be to our Apple orchard with the proposed tax reforms to the backpackers salary.

As I often tell people that only for the backpackers we would not be able to carry on growing apples in this district, I feel that it is good for all of us as we get the fruit picked they get some travelling money to spend and Australia gets the GST.

I have been orcharding for fifty years and have seen many changes to our employee supply and over the last five years or so none of the older former regular pickers have applied for work and it has been only backpackers that have filled the void.

We rely on a contractor to arrange the backpackers and we pay them through him, I know that they are paid correctly as we tell them exactly what we are pay to the contractor for the work, everyone is happy.

If as your Government propose to tax the backpackers at from what I hear 30% or so from dollar one then I can tell you now that there will be a big shortage of workers for our industry and therefore more fruit unpicked.

If it is the proposal that this will encourage younger Australian workers to do the job, as the bloke says "your dreamin".

I would like to know now if you really intend to go ahead with this as I will start dozing out more apple trees so as not to spend any more money on growing fruit that I can't get picked.

Please let me know if this is just a 'gee up' as they say because you really can't be serious.

I don't often put pen to paper re political decisions, that shows how serious I feel about this one.

Regards, James McClymont.

Name

Glenn Simonds

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 9:08:00 AM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Organisation

Organisation name

GD'S Labour Hire P/L

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

In our peak harvest season we employ about 100 foreign workers (small compared to sum), but they do the seasonal work that the Australian people will not even try to do or let alone do the job, foreign workers are extremely important to our business and more importantly our host employers rely on us to supply labour at peak times, if we had to rely on Australian workers the work would not get done. WE do have a core group of Australian workers who are invaluable to our business bit to find an extra 100 Australian workers is impossible. IN relation to the superannuation I am of the understanding that superannuation was set up to help Australians financially when they retired, well, if we as employers have to pay superannuation for workers the workers should also contribute a small percentage each week they work, as far as foreign workers we should not pay any superannuation for them and they definitely should not be able to access this money when they leave the country. If we do not pay superannuation for the foreign workers it would be a cost saving to our host employers which would hopefully see reduction in the price of produce to the general public.

Name

Paul Dimmick

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 10:46:30 AM

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Organisation

Organisation name

Huon Bush Retreats Pty Ltd

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

We frequently have international travelers with us as Wwoofers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). This is more than just employment, it is a cultural exchange. They live with us in our home and work with us in out business.

We do NOT engage Wwoofers because they are cheap. Most cost us the same amount in inefficiency and training as we gain in labour. However we consider it a great sharing experience for everyone involved. Everyone benefits.

They peak at the same time as our staff demands peak. This means that we are able to carry the base load with our long term, local, paid staff and then cover the peak demand with short term help from Wwoofers.

Most of our Wwoofers are seeking short term experiences. However some are looking for longer term stays and convert to temporary paid staff, either in our own business or other buisinesses that we refer them to. The wwoof period is equivalent to an apprenticeship or internship, where both parties assesss suitability.

We believe that Wwoofers hould be able to use the period they spend with us in a non-paid capacity as part of their 3 months elligibility for the 2nd year visa. It seems odd that in situations where they are extracting cash from teh Australian economy, they can use that time, but when they are only contributing their labour, they are not allowed to use it. Sort of punishes people for contributing for free.

Most importantly, regional tourism is a seasonal business with extreme peaks. All local busineses have the same peak and there are insuficient locals wanting the work. Wwoofer availability peaks at the same time so is the perfect solution.

Name

Daryl Boardman

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 11:09:36 AM

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Organisation

Organisation name

Sunnyspot Packhouse Pty Ltd

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

I believe on the superanution question that this money should go into a fund used to assit in infrustructure or something that Australia can benifit from. Backpackers being able to collect this when leaving just gives a boost to Bali or Thialand for example as they use this for the return holiday. Also why should these young people be able to recieve the super when we have to have one foot in the grave before we get it. Re offering to Australians first we would love this to happen but reality is the aussies dont want to do this work and as my packing shed manager says next year we are only employing backpackers. This is due to the casual nature of the local workers who regularly let you down. This is very rare with the backpacker workforce. We will loose this essential resource if treasury look to go for this money grab. It will be killing the goose that laid the golden egg for the bush if it goes through.

Name

Marion Davis

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 11:19:11 AM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

We run a small hobby farm & have been WWOOF Association Hosts for about 5 years.

We cannot afford to pay workers on our property but have had a great deal of WWOOF backpackers stay for 3 months to obtain their 2nd year Visa.

This has been a most rewarding experience for both us & the WWOOFers we have had staying with us as they get to experience Australian family life & be a part of our family for the time stayed with us.

WWOOFers will not be able to stay with us if they have to show pay slips for their 2nd Visa and so neither parties will be able to benefit from this.

Name

Keith Sawers

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 5:11:16 PM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

Living in a tourist area and, also working in the Riverina, where I have met with fruit farmers, accommodation providers and back packers, I believe any tax on backpacker incomes will have an adverse effect on all concerned. The backpackers I have met say that they spend all income earned in Australia, on their accommodation and travel, which injects funds into regional economies and small businesses like hotels and motels, cafes, fuel outlets, and tourism. The farmers tell me that the local unemployed Australians are reluctant to take on the fruit picking work, and if they do, only last a few days. Being a small business operator I know how difficult and time consuming it is to manage the wages and taxation of employees, and this would be a problem to a family owned fruit farmer, who would probably need to engage accountants to handle the extra work, and this would reduce their profitability. If the backpackers are taxed, it will lead to less coming to Australia, and make it harder for farmers to operate, and make a profit. It will hurt regional Australian businesses, which are involved in tourist industries, and could lead to job losses in this sector.

Name

Peter Roth

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 12:11:12 PM

Are you submitting as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

They should pay a certain percentage of tax eg.15% and no refund when departing the country. No claiming the tax- free threshold. I object to superannuation for holiday working visas as this was introduced for Australians retirement fund. The working holiday-maker should not be able to claim there 9.5% superannuation when leaving the country, as they are receiving more money back in their pocket at the end of the day than the Australian doing the same job.

Name

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 12:13:23 PM

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Organisation name

Country

Written Submission

Backpackers working in regional areas such as Mildura can be ambassadors for the wider tourism business, promoting our destination to friends and family. Their spending also has a positive impact on the local economy.

Name

Nicole van Beuningen

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 1:07:27 PM

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Organisation

Organisation name

Tablelands Regional Council

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

Q.3 Backpacker superannuation should be reviewed - they should not be paid superannuation as an extra cost to business.

Q.4 If tax is going to a central repository, then that is potentially taking funds away from regions where the money would have been spent as part of working holiday makers visitation.

Name

Ingrid Roth

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 3:24:10 PM

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Individual

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Written Submission

the time cost of setting up superannuation for a backpacker doing short term fruit picking work is is frequently higher than the actual superannuation to be paid. Especially as many of them don't have super accounts, and certainly don't value it.

Collecting this foreign worker superannuation as government revenue via a simplified "TFN" based system in the Super Clearing House would save employers a big administrative burden - and the 9.5-12% could be offset against the proposed 32% tax rate - bringing the backpacker tax down to 20% - so they have the $ to spend in Australia not when they leave by collecting superannuation

Name

James Hansen

Date Lodged

25 Aug 2016 8:54:21 PM

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Individual

Organisation name

Country

AUSTRALIA

Written Submission

This is an edited copy of a letter I sent to my local member Keith Pitt, back in May.

Hi Keith,

After reading this mornings Australian newspaper's article on how the backpacker tax will stay in this years budget I felt compelled to send you this.

When I heard of this tax ( in the field, from my backpackers in January) I told them that it was probably just a thought bubble and there was no way this side of politics would enact something so obviously flawed, counterproductive, and unfair - I was sure that this madness would get knocked on the head like it deserved, but apparently not so here goes :-

I am a farmer that has been employing backpackers for over 20 years and am usually swamped with forms to fill out for their 2nd year visa applications. This year though, it was announced that this tax would be levied while my lychee season was on, I had 20 backpackers working for me, all on their first year here - normally I would do second year apps for everyone, this year I did 5, and those were just covering their bases - they all said there was no way they were coming here to have 1/3 of their money taken.

ALL of them Keith.

If this is repeated in workplaces around the country then the scrawled on napkin that had the maths for this policy on it can be thrown straight in the bin because you are projecting your revenue based on the past - they will not come, and we desperately need them too. Where else can you get university and trade qualified people to pick fruit? In my work force last year I had people with degrees in chemistry, physics, a CNC machinist and a guy that builds nuclear power plants in France, just to name a few. I had an actual rocket scientist work for me a few years back! These kids are virtually all smarter than me and have a great work ethic - without them you will see growers like me simply stop growing the labour intensive crops and move to mechanically harvested produce. Less money for the government, less money for my home town, less food for everyone. There is no winner in this policy Keith, certainly not the budget.

I think it is entirely reasonable that the 13% that we currently take is non refundable but 33% is ridiculous. Did they get the Labour Party to consult for this? Because it stinks of one of their ideas. Conservatives know ( I thought), that by reducing taxes you increase your take as people adjust their behavior to what is laid in front of them. Lower taxes means people are more willing to work to earn more as they will keep more of it, and companies will move here for a favorable tax environment, employment wins, tax receipt wins, productivity wins.

Higher taxes does the opposite. I don't mind taking a hit for something sensible but this lunacy will not result in any meaningful longterm budget benefit and will almost certainly have a devastating effect in rural communities around the country.

I can't believe a farmer has to point this out, but if you try to take that much of their pay then THEY WILL STOP COMING! There is about 180 other free countries that they can travel to if they want. Yes, we have a very high wage in comparison to other countries, but they all know that we also have a very high cost of living to go with it. I know for sure that 2 of the kids working for me have changed their plans to do the second year in Canada, 2 just went home and at least 2 have plans to go to New Zealand ( I don't suppose there is any constitutional way we could just give the governing over to John Keys for a while just to see how he goes is there? The man is running a budget surplus in a county whose main export is milk!)

In summary,

Pros :- a surge to government coffers that is almost certainly to be wildly overestimated

Cons :- farmers all over the country unable to harvest their crops decide to no longer grow them, tourist and accomodation providers going broke, regional ecomomies losing a vital income source, not to mention the colour,interest and vibrancy that these kids bring to our communities.

But I digress, I know you would not have been a supporter of this Keith and I imagine the case has been well argued. Please add this letter to what I can only assume is a mountain of hugely disappointed and disillusioned constituents

Regards.

Jamie Hansen.

Ps there was a question about the backpackers accessing their super after they leave. Of course they should be able to but wouldn't it be smarter to let them have it while they are still here and give them a chance to spend it here instead of another country?

But hey, what would I know, I'm just a farmer.

Jamie and Sue Hansen

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