Canberra's hospitality industry has hit out over an ACT government decision to introduce a new levy on food waste expected to raise almost $20 million in the next four years.
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The levy would be charged on commercial waste companies dumping food waste in the territory's landfills, but the hotel industry is worried it will further dent confidence in the sector.
It comes amid another year of commercial rates rises, and after an Assembly inquiry into the issues commercial property owners and their tenants face due to increasing territory government taxes.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Tuesday released the 2019-20 budget, which included the levy.
The budget shows the government expects to spend $10 million over four years to upgrade the Hume recycling centre to accept food waste and start planning a broader ACT-wide food and garden organics waste service.
But the program would be funded by a levy expected to raise $18 million over four years, rising from $1.4 million in 2019-20 to $4.7 million the following year.
Estimates suggest the levy would then raise about $6.2 million in 2021-22, before falling to $5.8 million in 2022-23, while the cost of the recycling program it would fund would rise each year from $1.6 million in 2019-20 to $3.4 million in 2022-23.
The Australian Hotels Association's ACT branch general manager, Anthony Brierley, said the levy amounted to a new 7 per cent tax on the hospitality industry.
He said that, given the fragile economic environment and existing increases to rates and taxes, Canberra's hotels, pubs, bars and taverns could scarcely afford the new levy.
Mr Brierly said the tax was foisted on the industry with no warning and no public modelling of how it would affect the sector.
"This new rubbish tax coincides with the government's extortionate commercial rates increases, the highest payroll tax in the nation, and extraordinary rises in electricity prices - from which the ACT government receives a healthy dividend," he said.
"It's about time the government stopped seeing the hospitality industry as its private piggy-bank, and instead institutionalised constructive and proactive engagement."
The territory's politicians debated a Greens motion on the issue in the Assembly on Wednesday, brought arguing for the program, despite it already being funded in the budget.
Despite the opposition arguing it did not need to be debated given it had already been budgeted for, and the Greens arguing for a 2020 start date, all MLAs backed a government-amended motion to start the program in 2023.
The government will start work and consultations on the new food collection and a "zero food waste to landfill" program, though it is unclear if that will include talks on the levy to fund it.
Canberra's food-related businesses and charities supplying food will be consulted on the details of the program before it starts operating.
