Carbon Tax should be axed ASAP

The accommodation industry congratulates Tony Abbott and the Coalition on its election success and is calling on Labor to acknowledge the result by not standing in the way of repealing the carbon tax.

The President of the Accommodation Association of Australia, Garry Crockett, has welcomed the election of the Coalition Government in Canberra, saying that the accommodation industry looks forward to Mr Abbott and his team using its mandate for reform.

The Association's Chief Executive Officer, Richard Munro, is pleased that repealing the carbon tax is on top of Mr Abbott's 'to-do' list.

"There has been nothing positive about the carbon tax for the accommodation industry," Mr Munro said.

"It has imposed significant additional costs on accommodation businesses, due to increases in supplier charges, higher utility bills and it has robbed domestic visitors of discretionary income, eroding consumer confidence.

"The accommodation industry supports repealing the carbon tax and is calling on Labor to use its numbers in the Senate to ensure that this happens before the end of this year."

The Accommodation Association is pleased with a number of other Coalition policy commitments.

"A number of operators in the accommodation industry are small businesses, so we are pleased that the Coalition has promised a higher emphasis on supporting small businesses," Mr Munro said.

"On industrial relations, it's vital that the current regime changes to take into account the 24/7 nature of the accommodation industry.

"The Accommodation Association plans to make this point to the Productivity Commission when it reviews the current, outdated workplace relations laws."

Source: Accommodation Association of Australia, 9 September 2013