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1998-1999-2000-2001
THE
PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
SENATE
REVISED EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated
by authority of the Minister for Justice and
Customs,
Senator the Honourable Christopher Martin
Ellison)
THIS MEMORANDUM TAKES ACCOUNT
OF AMENDMENTS MADE BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BILL AS
INTRODUCED
ISBN: 0642 460086
PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2001
OUTLINE
The
purpose of this Bill is to amend the Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978
to increase the rate of the Passenger Movement Charge (the Charge) by $8, to
$38, with effect from 1 July 2001. The increase was announced by the Treasurer
in the 2001-2002 Budget and will fund increased passenger processing costs as
part of Australia’s response to the threat of the introduction of Foot and
Mouth Disease into Australia.
Certain
departures of persons from Australia on or after 1 July 2001 will be exempt from
the increase in the rate of the Charge to $38. These are departures that are
made by a person using a ticket or equivalent authority where the ticket or
authority was sold or issued before 1 July 2001.
The increase of the existing $30 Charge to $38 is
expected to result in an increase in revenue of $279m over four
years.
PASSENGER MOVEMENT CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2001
NOTES ON
CLAUSES
Clause 1 – Short
title
This clause provides for the Bill,
when enacted, to be cited as the Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Act
2001.
Clause 2 -
Commencement
This clause provides for the
Bill to commence on 1 July 2001.
Clause 3 -
Schedules
This clause is the formal
enabling provision for the Schedule to the Bill, providing that each Act
specified in a Schedule is amended in accordance with the applicable items of
the Schedule. In this Bill the Act being amended is the Passenger Movement
Charge Act 1978.
The clause also provides
that the other items of the Schedules have effect according to their terms.
This is a standard enabling clause for transitional, savings and application
items in amending legislation. In this Bill there is an application provision
in item 2 of Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 –
Amendment of the Passenger Movement Charge Act
1978
Item 1 - Section
6
This item amends section 6 of the
Passenger Movement Charge Act 1978 (the Act) to increase the rate of the
charge imposed by the Act from $30 to
$38.
Item 2 – Application
This item provides that the amendment of
the Act made by this Bill applies to the departure of a person from Australia on
or after 1 July 2001, unless the person departs using a ticket or equivalent
authority and the ticket or authority was sold or issued before 1 July 2001.
Currently, for departures from Australia on
commercial and charter airlines and passenger ships, the Charge is collected
entirely under arrangements made under section 10 of the Passenger Movement
Charge Collection Act 1978. Airlines and shipping companies periodically
remit to the Commonwealth an amount equal to the Charge payable by departing
passengers that are covered by a relevant arrangement. Where this amount is
paid, the departing passenger is deemed to have paid the Charge. In accordance
with these arrangements, an amount equal to the Charge may be collected from a
passenger up to twelve months prior to their departure.
Airlines have indicated to the Government that
they have already sold several hundred thousand tickets for departures on or
after 1 July 2001 and have collected only the current amount of the Charge from
passengers ie, $30. Under the arrangements, however, the airline would be
required to remit to the Commonwealth the increased amount of the Charge for
each departure after
1 July 2001 and thereby bear
the additional $8 in respect of each such departure.
Therefore, the increase in the Charge will not
apply to a departure of a person from Australia on or after 1 July 2001 where
the person departs using a ticket or an equivalent authority and the ticket or
authority was sold or issued before 1 July 2001.