The Australian passport is about to become the most expensive in the world, with prices set to skyrocket to almost $400.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Government has announced the second price rise this year, with a total increase of 22.5 per cent since January.
Passport prices will increase from the standard $325 at the beginning of the year, to $398 as of July 1, which includes the standard indexation applied in January.
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During the 2024 federal budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers called the changes to passport fees “relatively modest”, a sentiment not shared by Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Birmingham, who slammed the price increase.
“Adding insult to injury during a cost-of-living crisis, Australians are paying more for their passports under Labor in return for a woefully inefficient service,” Birmingham said.
Birmingham said a report released by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) on the Australian Passport Office revealed that passport processing was 56 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels and passports took longer to reach applicants.
“The Albanese Government shows no remorse for increasing passport fees to the most expensive in the world as a backdoor tax grab that will cost taxpayers an extra $349 million,“ he said.
“Under Labor Australians are waiting longer and paying record sums for the privilege of a passport that should be a basic entitlement, not an expensive luxury.”
Australia’s passports prices are now the world’s most expensive, ahead of Mexico at the equivalent of $A346 and the United States at $A252.