Following the announcement of the Australian 2016-17 federal budget, the backpacker industry came together for the YHA Conference in Cairns today and were advised by Tourism Tropical North’s CEO Alex de Waal that the Australian Government has put the “backpacker tax” on hold for 6 months until federal elections later this year.
Whilst this is an interim win for the industry, operators and industry bodies will remain alert and continue lobbying efforts to wipe out the proposed tax altogether.
The BYTE Australia reports from Cairns: