ATO ruling: Workers react to tax breaks for elite sports stars

WORKERS have reacted angrily to the news that the country’s most elite sportsmen will be handed a tax break, asking what they have done to deserve the silver treatment.

Site foreman Rob Kelsall, site operator Ben Champion, and mechanics Rohan Hendry and Gary Hughes. Picture: Andrew Tauber

• Big tax breaks for elite sports stars
• $15m to AOC mate as athletes struggled

WORKERS have reacted angrily to the news that the country’s most elite sportsmen will be handed a tax break, asking what they have done to deserve the silver treatment.

Site operator Ben Champion said yesterday the move by the ATO was “over the top”, and he and his staff worked just as hard as the high-profile sports players.

Arriving at work before sunrise and working through the bitter winter days, the tradies at the construction site in Melbourne’s inner north said they were not afraid of hard work.

They’re not the type of blokes to complain, but when asked by the Herald Sun what they thought about footballers receiving a tax cut, their answer was simple: “That’s not fair.”

Mr Champion said footballers already had it “pretty easy”.

“I think we go a bit overboard with the footy players, I think it’s a bit much, really,” Mr Champion said.

“They’ve got a pretty good job as it is — don’t push it.”

It’s a sentiment shared by his workers at the Carlton building site.

“They get enough (money) in royalties, they don’t need an extra break,” mechanic Rohan Hendry said.

Free kick: How the ATO ruling affects AFL players.

Under the ruling, the AFL’s highest-paid players, such as Lance Franklin, who earns about $1 million a year, will be allowed to direct 10 per cent of their playing income to a ­private trust or company, ­attracting a tax rate of just 27.5 per cent.

“All the money they get from sponsorship deals … it’s ridiculous,” Mr Hendry said.

When he’s not repairing cranes on construction sites in the city, Mr Hendry is tending his cattle on a property in the Kyneton area.

He’s a fourth-generation beef farmer and his family has done a lot for the country, he says.

“What more have footy players done that farmers haven’t,” he said. “Who is missing out because of this?”

Site foreman Rob Kelsall said he often sympathised with elite sportsmen whose sporting careers could be so short-lived.

“They’ve only got a short window to make their money,” Mr Kelsall said.

“As long as they (the government) can cover it.”

By the numbers.

But he was quick to add that he might feel differently about players who had long careers that spanned decades.

“No, I wouldn’t like it then,” Mr Kelsall said.

But mechanic Gary Hughes said it wasn’t a good look for a country faced with increasing debt.

“You’d want them to be playing pretty well to deserve it,” Mr Hughes said, wondering if they would still get the break if their performance slipped.

Mr Champion said he couldn’t see why footballers should be given any more ­benefits.

“Why should the rest of us miss out because they’re suddenly getting more,” Mr Champion asked.

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