Australia's 'worst in the world' at...

Australia's high departure tax for short-haul flights has been criticised. Picture: Supplied Source: The Daily Telegraph

• Tax on international flights to Australia among the world's highest 
• World tourism forum slams tax policy
• Each ticket from Australia is slugged $55 in tax 

INTERNATIONAL travellers visiting Australia are slugged with some of the highest taxes in the world.

The passenger movement charge (PMC), has been called the world's worst at a global tourism forum. The $55 fee is built into all international airfares regardless of the distance.

Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) Acting Chief Executive Officer Trent Zimmerman told the Global Leadership Summit in Abu Dhabi it's now the highest departure tax in the developed world for short-haul flights.

"We are not surprised to see Australia join the ranks of the worst offenders," Mr Zimmerman said.

"Last year's $8 rise to $55 coupled with a strong exchange rate has catapulted the PMC up the travel tax league table to second, behind only the UK's air passenger duty.

"As bad as the UK's air passenger duty is, you can fly from London to Algeria, Greenland or Turkey and pay one-third of the tax you would pay on a flight from Darwin to Dili – Australia's shortest international sector.

Mr Zimmerman said it's not the first time the tax has come under fire and that action is long overdue.

"The world is taking note. Last month the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Australia 130 out of 140 nations for its air ticket taxes."

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HK one of worst cities for light pollution

Lazers light up the sky above Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. The city has one of the worst levels of light pollution. Source: AFP

HONG Kong is one of the world's worst cities for light pollution with night skies around 1000 times brighter than globally accepted levels, researchers said ahead of this year's Earth Hour event.

A study by Hong Kong University found that brightness levels in the southern Chinese city's popular shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui were 1200 times greater than the international dark sky standard - a measurement void of man-made light.

The densely-populated city of seven million inhabitants, full of residential highrises, towering office blocks and neon advertisements, has no laws to control external lighting.

The result, researchers say, is that light pollution is thought to be much worse than in other large cities, including London, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai.

"In Hong Kong, you cannot go anywhere outdoor in the evening without your eyes being blinded by this really intrusive outdoor lighting," the light pollution survey's head Jason Pun told AFP.

"The fact that we have all this light in the sky means energy is wasted," he said, adding that excessive artificial lighting also adversely affects nocturnal wildlife.

"We should reduce the amount of lighting used and adjust it for the sake of the environment."

Research has suggested that light pollution can cause a number of adverse health effects in humans, including insomnia and headaches, and can also disrupt body clocks and hormones.

The university survey, the result of five million measurements taken from points across the city, was released just days before the start of the annual Earth Hour event, organised by the World Wildlife Fund.

People around the world will be encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour on Saturday night to raise awareness of climate change.

Last year a number of Hong Kong's major buildings along Victoria Harbour, including the International Finance Centre and Central Plaza, went dark to mark Earth Hour.

In France, from July 1 offices and shops will be required to turn their lights off overnight under new light pollution laws.
 

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