Budget 2016: Tobacco price hike, increased passport costs and new English programs

A raft of new measures are buried in this year’s budget papers, including changes to the tobacco excise, an increase in passport costs and the establishment of a new adult migrant English program.

The 2016-2017 Budget Papers are seen at a printing facility prior to being delivered to Parliament House in Canberra, Sunday, May 1, 2016. Source: AAP

Tobacco changes

The tobacco excise will again go up through four annual increases of 12.5 per cent per year from 2017 until 2020. The increases will take place on 1 September each year, and could see cigarettes cost as much as $40 by 2020.

The government will also halve the amount of cigarettes available at Duty Free stores from 50 to 25, beginning July 1.

The government is strengthening its regulatory and enforcement responses to illicit tobacco by providing $7.7 million over two years to expand the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s Tobacco Strike Team.

The changes will take Australia’s excise on a cigarette to almost 69 per cent of the average price of a cigarette, bringing it inline with the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 70 per cent.

English language programs redesigned

The government will redesign the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) to offer additional hours of English tuition to eligible clients. It will also establish two new AMEP service streams; Social English and Pre-Employment English. The cost of these measures will be met from the existing resources of the Department of Education and Training.

The federal government will also provide $5.9 million over two years to expand the Early Learning Language Australia program to all preschool services nationally from the 2017 school year.

It’s hoped the expansion will provide more preschool children with the opportunity to study a language other than English.

Passport Costs and Visas

If you’re planning an overseas trip and your passport is out of date, it’s advisable you book an appointment as soon as possible.

From 1 January 2017, the cost of each new passport will increase by $20 for adults and $10 for children and seniors. The fee for priority processing of passport applications will increase by $54.

The government expects these measures to raise $172.9 million over four years, from 2016-17.

The government is also introducing trial visa arrangements in a bid to enhance tourism. This includes a user-pays visa fast-track service for nationals from India and the United Arab Emirates. It also includes a three-year multiple entry visa for low immigration risk nationals from India, Thailand, Vietnam and Chile.

The measure builds on a 2015-16 MYEFO (Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook) measure, which included a trial of a user-pays visa fast-track service for Chinese nationals.