Byron Shire Council (BSC) has officially revived its long-running push for a bed tax, unanimously backing a plan to build the economic case for making visitors pay their way.
The vote, at last week’s Council meeting, gives Council the green light to pursue a detailed financial study of tourism, work that councillors hope will underpin a renewed campaign to secure a visitor levy or similar funding model from state and federal governments.
Support for the motion was reinforced during the public access section of the meeting, where Coorabell resident and road safety advocate Anthony Stante delivered a blunt assessment of the pressures facing the Shire.
Need more revenue
‘When you step away from the postcard version of Byron and drive the hinterland… you see a very different reality,’ he said.
‘Our infrastructure is not keeping up… in many cases, [roads] are at developing nation standards.’
Mr Stante said the region had spent years failing to capture a fair share of the revenue generated by its tourism economy, leaving locals to deal with the consequences.
‘The state collects the revenue and the road safety risk stays here with the local residents and tourists alike,’ he said.
Later in the meeting, councillors made it clear the study was intended to arm them for action.
Greens councillor Michelle Lowe said the aim was to provide Council with ‘hard facts’ about what tourism contributes – and what it costs – across infrastructure, environment, and local services.
‘We’re a small rate-paying base… and I’m just really hoping that this [study] is successful, and therefore the subsequent work can be done to try and lobby the government with some hard facts that can’t be disputed,’ she said.
Labor councillor Janet Swain was even more explicit about where that work could lead.
‘I think… the bed tax is just such a no-brainer,’ she said, arguing the Shire needed a robust business case to convince the NSW government to grant an exemption or pilot scheme.
Cr Swain pointed to historical precedent, noting NSW once imposed an accommodation levy in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics, and warned that Byron should be preparing now for increased visitation ahead of the Brisbane Games.
However, there was some caution around how much the work would cost and whether it would lead to a favourable outcome.
Independent councillor Michael Lyon said he supported the motion ‘in principle’, particularly given its potential to deliver useful information at little cost, but flagged broader concerns about Council’s ability to translate the study into an outcome.
State decison
Arguably the biggest hurdle facing the bed tax push is that Council does not have the legal power to introduce such a levy on its own.
Under the Local Government Act 1993 any tourism levy would require NSW government approval. That approval has historically been almost impossible to to secure, with successive governments reluctant to support bed taxes, leaving councils to rely on voluntary schemes.
Any proposal would need to navigate state tax policy, industry opposition, and concerns about consistency across NSW, meaning Byron’s campaign is as much a political negotiation with Macquarie Street as a local policy initiative.
Mayor Sarah Ndiaye acknowledged the long, and often frustrating, history of the bed tax debate, describing it as an idea that has repeatedly struggled to gain traction despite sustained advocacy.
‘I’m one of those people whose eyes have glazed over when people have talked about a bed tax,’ she said, reflecting the fatigue that has accompanied years of stalled progress.
However, she backed the proposal as a practical way forward, noting the broader value of the research regardless of whether a levy is ultimately achieved.
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