The Dreyfus Files - The Age
For Tony Abbott, the definition of an acceptable levy is apparently one imposed by the Coalition.
In government, the Liberals and Nationals tried to impose six levies in 12 years. They announced a sugar levy in 2003 to assist farmers, a levy on plane tickets in 2001 to pay Ansett workers’ entitlements, a milk levy in 2000 to assist dairy farmers, a levy for the East Timor military action in 1999 (ultimately not called on) and a levy for a guns buyback in 1996 through an increase in the Medicare surcharge.
That’s quite a list. But not the full list. From opposition last year, Mr Abbott proposed a $2.7 billion levy on business to pay for the Liberals’ expensive paid parental leave scheme.
Australia faces a repair bill for the worst natural disaster in its history. The Gillard government has responded quickly with $3.8 billion in spending cuts and a moderate, one-off tax levy to provide the federal contribution to rebuild the devastated flood-affected areas.
The levy is progressive, and similar to the Howard East Timor levy in applying to middle and higher-income earners. It is a measured, appropriate and economically affordable response to a national tragedy.
Mr Abbott’s negative response has been hollow and hypocritical, as we have come to expect from him. Failing to recognise the scale of the tragedy, and the need for prompt action, he continues to play politics about the floods, engaging in posturing and point-scoring in the face of a disaster.
Mr Abbott said last week in a television interview that the levy was ‘‘the opposite of mateship’’. Does this mean that the Howard government’s levies for sugar, Ansett, milk, East Timor and guns were also ‘‘the opposite of mateship’’?
This sort of petty slogan is no way to approach the difficult business of managing our national economy and does nothing to help the many Australians suffering the effects of this massive natural disaster.
Mr Abbott said last weekend that the flood levy proposal must have prompted the independent MPs into ‘‘a lot of soul searching at the moment’’.
But as our country contemplates its toughest hour and the effects of yet another extreme weather event in the shape of Cyclone Yasi, Mr Abbott would do well to rethink his own approach to this crisis. Instead of wrecking, he ought to get behind the genuine efforts to rebuild essential infrastructure and get flood-affected regions back on their feet.
