Story: Rebecca Brown
A number of local heads have rejected Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s idea to introduce a once-off flood levy.
The PM’s proposal states that people earning between $50,000 and $100,000 will pay 0.5 per cent of taxable income in excess of $50,000 and people earning more than $100,000 will pay 0.5 per cent of taxable income in excess of $50,000 and 1 per cent of taxable income in excess of $100,000.
The levy will not be paid by those affected by the floods, will not be paid by lower income earners, and will apply only in the 2011-12 financial year.
But this has received criticism by Southern Downs Regional Mayor Ron Bellingham, Warwick Chamber of Commerce president David Littleproud and Federal Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott.
“I believe Queensland needs incentives to get people back to work and in their homes but I don’t think a levy as such was the best way to go,” Cr Bellingham said.
“I don’t think raising money from a levy with the potential for cash handouts is very smart,” he said.
“If it’s wasted, it’s another tax that you don’t get any benefit. The local people on the ground know where the money should go.”
Mr Littleproud said the levy would make it difficult for local people and businesses.
“It’s just something that weighs on people again; it’s another thing in the household budget,” he said.
However, Mr Littleproud said, it was imperative road infrastructure was maintained and believed the Southern Downs should get their fair share from the flood levy.
Mr Scott has demanded to know how money raised from the flood levy will help rebuild flood-affected communities in the Maranoa electorate.
“Show us a list of the roads in Maranoa that will be repaired with funding from the levy. Is the Warrego included? Or Cunningham’s Gap and the Gore Highway? What about the Landsborough Highway, the Blackbutt Range crossing and strategic local roads?
“Labor needs to commit to rebuilding regional Queensland for the better; I want an assurance that this flood levy will provide more than just a band-aid solution,” he said.
