Cash splash to fund ‘great escape’
FREIGHT BOOST TO ASSIST IMPORTS
TASMANIAN businesses will be able to import goods into the state from overseas cheaper as part of an extension to the state’s freight equalisation scheme.
Tuesday night’s federal budget included $89.3m over four years from July 1 this year to extend the eligibility of the assistance scheme to goods that did not have a direct Australian-made equivalent.
The support will be applied at a rate of $700 per 6m equivalent unit.
The Commonwealth said this would provide greater assistance to the Tasmanian agriculture, forestry and fisheries, manufacturing and mining industries.
In budget papers, the federal government said the cost of the new measure would be partly met from within the existing resources of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.
Federal Liberal Braddon MP Gavin Pearce said the policy would be a game-changer for Tasmania and many of its industries.
“The flow-on benefits to Tasmania’s economy, at a time when we need it most, cannot be overstated,’’ he said.
“This funding will drive Tasmanian industry’s bottom line, will potentially attract new industry to the state, will increase investment, and crucially increase employment opportunities right across Tasmania.”
It is an extension of the long-running Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme, which seeks to lower the cost to Tasmanian businesses of transporting goods across Bass Strait.
Budget papers show $174m was expected to be spent on the program during the current financial year and slightly more in 2021-22.
A financial year-to-date total of $121m had been spent on the scheme to the end of March, with Simplot, Mccain and Norske Skog the top three claimants during the first three months of 2021.
Meanwhile, the government provided $6m in 2020-21 to increase the rebate for the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme for free travel for eligible passenger vehicles across Bass Strait between March 1 and June 30 this year, to stimulate tourism business recovery in Tasmania.
The budget papers do not suggest this scheme will be extended beyond that date.