Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Short-stay accommodation

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19:03): (1892) My adjournment matter is for the Treasurer. The action I seek is for the Treasurer to repeal the short-stay levy that is harming Victorian tourism businesses. The Allan Labor government’s holiday tax on short-stay providers is a greedy tax that is harming Victorian tourism businesses and totally failing to achieve its objectives, and it should be repealed. Recently released data from the ABS shows that international visitors are choosing other states over Victoria, and it is easy to see why, as the Labor government’s holiday tax has made taking a holiday in Victoria more expensive than ever. Victoria saw a drop of over 2000 visitors in June 2025 compared to June last year, even while all other states recorded an increase in the number of tourists. Visitor arrivals to Victoria are still 10.6 per cent lower than they were pre COVID in June 2019, and Labor’s holiday tax is slowing the recovery of Victoria’s tourism sector.

Accommodation providers across my electorate have complained about the negative impact of Labor’s holiday tax. One chief executive of a large property management company said that the data showed bookings in Victoria have dropped while bookings in other states are growing. The purpose of the short-stay levy was to push accommodation providers to stop offering their property for short stays and instead offer their property for the long-term rental market. But it has been reported that Homes Victoria rental bond data shows that the number of long-term rentals is actually dropping. The president of the Macedon Ranges Accommodation Association has said that this levy targets many small operators who are not even able to offer their property as a long-term rental because it does not meet certain requirements – for example, it is a small one-bedroom cottage without a permanent kitchen. Other small operators are struggling with the onerous reporting burdens and lack of information and clarity around how the rules apply. One accommodation manager has said that Labor’s holiday tax is just bad policy and that when you compare the outcomes to the objectives it is just: fail, fail, fail. If the purpose of the tax is to push providers out of short-stay and into long-term rentals, the policy is failing. If the purpose is to raise money to build social housing, the policy is also failing. We know that Labor are way behind on their social housing targets. The only outcome of Labor’s holiday tax is tourism operators being squeezed for cash to fund project blowouts and tourists being scared away from Victoria. A Battin Liberal government will scrap the holiday tax, restore confidence in the tourism sector and bring visitors back to Victoria, where they can enjoy all that our wonderful state has to offer.