ReportTasmania visitor levy dies 6-6Aired September 10, 2026 at 5:29 PM UTCWritten September 10, 2026 at 5:32 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Tasmania's visitor levy is dead, killed in the upper house on a 6-6 tie.0:04The first home buyer benefit it was supposed to fund had already lapsed two and a0:08half months earlier.0:09So, with both now gone, what replaces the help Tasmanians have already lost?0:13The bill is the Short Stay Levy Bill 2026.0:17It died when the Legislative Council split 6-6 and the Chamber's president, Labor0:22MLC Craig Farrell of Derwent, cast the deciding vote against it.0:26It had cleared the lower house comfortably, 22 votes to 9, back in May.0:31The levy was a 2024 liberal promise.0:34A 5% charge on short-stay bookings to help pay for zero stamp duty for first-home0:39buyers of established homes worth up to $750,000.0:42The exemption ran from February 2024 to the end of June this year.0:46The bill cleared the lower house in May.0:48The upper house killed it in September.0:50Ten weeks after the exemption it was meant to fund had already lapsed.0:53The levy itself was narrowly drawn.0:55It would have added 5% to the total booking fee for short-stay accommodation.0:59Stays under 28 days booked through platforms like Airbnb and Stays, Hotels, Motels,1:03Bed and Breakfasts, and Caravan Parks were excluded.1:06And after consultation, so were owner-occupied spare room listings.1:09It was due to start on Or Swan's July 2027.1:12That was the promise in black and white.1:14Four-fifths of the cost carried by travelers.1:17Every dollar of the levy pledged to first home buyers.1:20On the numbers, the promise kept slipping.1:23Pitched in 2024 at about $11 million a year, the levy's own treasury estimate fell1:28to roughly $7.3 to $8 million after amendments.1:31The government said 80 to 83% of that would come from interstate and international1:36visitors.1:37On one side, roughly $8 million a year in revenue, on the other, the cost already on1:41the books.1:42The exemptions have cost about $40 million.1:45The original 2024 costing put the two-year exemption at $64.3 million, with the levy1:51expected to offset about $44 million, leaving a net cost of just over $20 million.1:56Either way, the levy never collected a dollar.1:58And the bill it was meant to pay is already paid.2:01That's the contradiction at the heart of the defeat.2:04Labor opposed the levy as a confused, unworkable tourism tax.2:08Opponents in the chamber argued there was no economic modeling, that the bulk of the2:12revenue would come from a share estimate sourced from industry rather than2:15government analysis, that no law guaranteed the money would reach first home buyers,2:20and that a small charge on visitors would do nothing to add rental supply or ease2:23the housing crisis.2:24After the vote, Treasurer Eric Abetz publicly blamed Labor.2:28The Premier's government pointed to the housing revenue the levy would have2:31reinvested.2:32On the floor, it was the chamber's own president who broke the tie against the bill.2:36But here's the sharper problem: the benefit the levy was meant to preserve is2:40already gone.2:41The stamp duty exemption lapsed on 30 June and was not extended in the 2026-272:47budget.2:50From July, first home buyers of established homes pay the full transfer duty again.2:54The only relief the budget kept was the first homeowner grant, $20,000 for new2:58builds this year.2:59down from a $30,000 temporary boost.3:01And the timing is what makes the loss sting.3:04This month, only about 6% of homes on the market were within reach of an average3:07Tasmanian earner, a figure economist tied to a shortage of supply, not a lack of3:12demand side help.3:13So the question the defeat leaves open, what replaces either?3:17The government has announced no replacement revenue measure and no restoration of3:21the expired exemption.3:22No alternative funding plan for reviving the $750,000 threshold has been published3:27since the vote.3:28First home buyers are back on full transfer duty, and with 6% of homes within reach,3:32economists say the real fix is supply, not another levy.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗