The Australian passport is the most expensive in the world – and the travel document is now set to soar by an extra $50 next year with the news outraging travellers.
Aussies were already holding the most expensive travel document, which cost $325 for ten years.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Wednesday that from July 1 next year passport fees will increase by 15 per cent to $373.75.
The next most expensive passport behind Australia is Mexico, at an equivalent of $255, and the third is Switzerland, with the document costing $210.
The Australian passport is the most expensive in the world – and the travel document is now set to soar by an extra $50 next year
The news of the passport price hike frustrated many Aussies who took aim at the government.
‘The only thing Labor does – cause trouble, tax people, waste money!’ one said on social media platform X.
‘Gouging more money off the people!’ another said.
‘With an already expensive passport, further added costs are questionable at least,’ a third tweeted.
The Federal government has claimed the increase in the cost of an Australian passport, set to raise $349million over three years, is a ‘one off’.
‘The funds from this one-off increase will be reinvested to make our passport systems and services more modern,’ a spokesman said on Wednesday.
‘This includes helping us to safeguard Australians from rapidly evolving threats to identity security.
The Federal government has claimed the increase in the cost of an Australian passport, set to raise $349million over three years, is a ‘one off’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Wednesday that from July 1 next year passport fees will increase by 15 per cent to $373.75
‘Global economic and supply chain pressures have also driven up the cost of key components used in passport production.’
The fee increase was buried within the government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook released on Wednesday.
The document stated the funds raised from the measure would be ‘redirected to support priorities in the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio’.
According to data from insurance company William Russell released earlier this year, the United States was ranked as having the fifth most expensive passport on the list at $195, and the UK was ranked 13th at $150 out of 38 countries.
The cheapest passport on the list was for those living in the Czech Republic. Their passports only set them back $40.
Australia also has the sixth most powerful passport in the world, with the travel document allowing Aussies to enter 188 countries without a visa, according to the Henley Passport Index.
Singapore is considered the best passport in the world, with visa-free access to 193 countries.