Cost of Australian passports set to rise - again.

[KhunHeineken]

Australia already has the most expensive passport in the world, and the price is set to rise, again. 

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-already-has-the-worlds-most-expensive-passport-its-set-to-go-up-in-price-again/c1ac44ca-e747-4df6-a37c-0575fe9f9c54

 

"Labor are on track to be raking in nearly $1 billion annually from taxpayers just through their past three blatant price rises on Australian passports."  Wow.  A nice earner.

 

"The changes come after a 15 per cent tax was added to the price of new passports in July last year, which made Australian passports the most expensive in the world."

 

""It's unsurprising the Albanese government is ringing in the new year with another tax grab from Australians," Birmingham said."  I doubt he'll care about the proposed changes to tax residency, either. 

 

$412 for a 32 page passport.  What a rip off. 

[connda]

Damn!
 

7 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

$412 for a 32 page passport.  What a rip off. 

 

[Pattaya57]

So it's gone up $1.40 per year for a 10 year passport. I think most of us will survive 😉

[KhunHeineken]

4 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

So it's gone up $1.40 per year for a 10 year passport. I think most of us will survive 😉

On top of a 15% increase last July.  I wonder how much next July's increase will be. 

 

How can the Australian government justify having the most expensive passport in the world?  

 

They will probably keep the price the same, but lower the pages to 24. 

 

It's just a rip off. 

[Will27]

18 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

So it's gone up $1.40 per year for a 10 year passport. I think most of us will survive 😉

You're missing the point.

It's not about the $14.00 per year.

 

It's one of, if the not the most expensive passport in the world.

 

And when you add in the overseas surcharge, it's 12 630 Baht, which is outrageous.

 

Nearly $600 for a passport.

Seriously?

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, Will27 said:

You're missing the point.

It's not about the $14.00 per year.

 

It's one of, if the not the most expensive passport in the world.

 

And when you add in the overseas surcharge, it's 12 630 Baht, which is outrageous.

 

Nearly $600 for a passport.

Seriously?

Crikey, thats almost my.visa agent fee too😭! 

[KhunHeineken]

5 hours ago, Will27 said:

It's one of, if the not the most expensive passport in the world.

It is officially the most expensive passport in the world. 

 

No more 64 page passports.  So, the cut the amount pages by half, and raised the price significantly. 

 

Just another back door tax. 

[KhunHeineken]

$1240 for passports for mum, dad, and two kids, before they even look at a small holiday to Bali or similar. 

[gargamon]

On 12/30/2024 at 11:21 AM, KhunHeineken said:

 

$412 for a 32 page passport.  What a rip off

It's in Australian dollars so it's not really that much if you think about it.

[Will27]

2 hours ago, gargamon said:

It's in Australian dollars so it's not really that much if you think about it.

Seriously?

 

Add the surcharge for those of us living abroad and it's nearly $600.

[still kicking]

4 hours ago, Will27 said:

Seriously?

 

Add the surcharge for those of us living abroad and it's nearly $600.

Move back to OZ 

[1sickpuppy]

On 12/30/2024 at 10:21 AM, KhunHeineken said:

Australia already has the most expensive passport in the world, and the price is set to rise, again. 

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-already-has-the-worlds-most-expensive-passport-its-set-to-go-up-in-price-again/c1ac44ca-e747-4df6-a37c-0575fe9f9c54

 

"Labor are on track to be raking in nearly $1 billion annually from taxpayers just through their past three blatant price rises on Australian passports."  Wow.  A nice earner.

 

"The changes come after a 15 per cent tax was added to the price of new passports in July last year, which made Australian passports the most expensive in the world."

 

""It's unsurprising the Albanese government is ringing in the new year with another tax grab from Australians," Birmingham said."  I doubt he'll care about the proposed changes to tax residency, either. 

 

$412 for a 32 page passport.  What a rip off. 

cant help themselves, somebody has to pay for there weekly binges on alcohol

[KhunHeineken]

On 12/31/2024 at 8:26 AM, gargamon said:

It's in Australian dollars so it's not really that much if you think about it.

It's more than anyone else from any other country in the world pays for a passport. 

[KhunHeineken]

16 hours ago, 1sickpuppy said:

cant help themselves, somebody has to pay for there weekly binges on alcohol

The country is broke, so you can expect more "back door taxes" like this in the future, and people think the proposed changes to tax residency will not be passed. 

[spidermike007]

Friends of mine tell me they pay $250 for breakfast when they take their family out to a modest restaurant. I think it would appear that Australia is one of the world's most expensive countries with an economy that's completely out of control, perhaps second only to the US. 

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Friends of mine tell me they pay $250 for breakfast when they take their family out to a modest restaurant. I think it would appear that Australia is one of the world's most expensive countries with an economy that's completely out of control, perhaps second only to the US. 

Two Australian cities are in the Top 10 of the world as the most expensive for property.  That has to be passed onto the consumer when we are talking about commercial rents as well.  That means $250 breakfasts. 

 

Anyone would think Australia is short of land, like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore etc, but there is plenty of land and only a 28 million people population. 

 

This disaster has been made by design, so the rich get richer. 

 

https://www.canstar.com.au/home-loans/expensive-cities-buy-property/

[Will27]

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/get-your-housing-in-order-imf-warns-government-and-coalition-20241223-p5l0cr.html

[KhunHeineken]

10 hours ago, Will27 said:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/get-your-housing-in-order-imf-warns-government-and-coalition-20241223-p5l0cr.html

It's a disgrace. 

 

You now have Aussies of child baring age unable to afford to have more than one child. 

 

May as well call it "Australia's One Child Policy" via the back door. 

 

The banks, insurance companies, all three tiers of government, and the tax man, including share holders, all getting rich on the pain and suffering of hard working middle class Australians.   On top of that, you have electricity, gas, petrol, water and food.  It will not stop until every cent someone earns MUST go back into the economy, leave ZERO to save.  

 

[gearbox]

18 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's a disgrace. 

 

You now have Aussies of child baring age unable to afford to have more than one child. 

 

May as well call it "Australia's One Child Policy" via the back door. 

 

The banks, insurance companies, all three tiers of government, and the tax man, including share holders, all getting rich on the pain and suffering of hard working middle class Australians.   On top of that, you have electricity, gas, petrol, water and food.  It will not stop until every cent someone earns MUST go back into the economy, leave ZERO to save.  

 

I think the median income in Sydney is around 95k, which after tax is around 70k. With median house price around 1.65 million one needs 23 yearly salaries to buy a house. That's serfdom. The government revenue depends quite a bit on the housing, so they'll do anything to keep the prices rising. If I was young and ambitious I would plan to leave the country ASAP. Living after 60 in countries like Thailand is no brainer.

[gearbox]

On 1/1/2025 at 3:31 PM, KhunHeineken said:

It's more than anyone else from any other country in the world pays for a passport. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_passport

 

$54 AUD normal price, apparently free for people over 70. Ranked higher in the passport index than the Aussie passport.

 

 

https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php

 

[KhunHeineken]

6 hours ago, gearbox said:

The government revenue depends quite a bit on the housing, so they'll do anything to keep the prices rising.

I agree. 

 

That's why it's called "The Australian Housing Market Ponzi Scheme." 

 

In many ways, it's not dissimilar to what happened in the USA back in 2008.  

 

Since the covid housing bubble, the banks have tightened up.  I think it's because they knew they were over leveraged. Those mortgages are still in play. 

 

Inflation is still at 3.8%, and has been for some time.  That's about 1.3% higher than the RBA would like. 

 

Raise rates again, and it pushes thousands across the country into foreclosure.  Lower rates to save the housing market and inflation increases. Catch 22.  

 

The broad sword of raising interest rates only effects those repaying finance.  The rich are unaffected and keep spending.  Hardly equitable.      

 

A few ideas were put forward by government advisors at the time.  One being, a temporary rise in the GST.  This hits the people actually causing the inflation, the spenders, but it was not to be.

 

Turning the family home into an investment vehicle has brought financial pain and suffering to many, with no end in sight.    

[KhunHeineken]

5 hours ago, gearbox said:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_passport

 

$54 AUD normal price, apparently free for people over 70. Ranked higher in the passport index than the Aussie passport.

 

 

https://www.passportindex.org/byRank.php

 

We are definitely being ripped off.  A passport, any passport, is just not worth that much money.