In other Victoria and Commonwealth news, this also comes from AAP:
The plan of the Victorian government to tax Australian companies in order to help pay for the overhaul of the state mental health system was thwarted by the federal government.
Mentally Health and Wellbeing Levy, revealed the treasurer Tim Pallas on Thursday, it will hit companies that pay more than $ 10 million with a 0.5 percent surcharge.
Companies with a national payroll above $ 100 million will pay one percent.
The tax is the main recommendation of the Royal Mental Health Commission and will affect less than five per cent of employers, Pallas said.
Throwing out the budget on Friday, the treasurer said the tax would ensure that the mental health sector gets the funds it needs for “work worth decades”.
“The levy is so vital. Without that, we know what the problem is, we know how to finance it, but we are not interested in it, because the political discomfort associated with the levy is not something we are not prepared to endure, ”Mr Pallas told the Australian Economic Development Gathering Committee.
“Any politician who writes it based on that is part of the problem, not the solution.”
But the Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the impost was irresponsible.
“This is the worst time you could increase your tax Australian economy, ”He said Friday.
“This is self-destructive.”
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg called the tax a handbrake of the economy.
“Labor is hitting Victorian families and businesses with higher taxes,” he said.
Mr Pallas said the state had approached the Commonwealth to include costs in the Medicare tax, given that mental health was a “national problem”.
“They had very little inclination in that regard. So we are once again left to ourselves. ”
The opposition of the liberal citizens opposes the tax, but it is expected to get the support of the upper house for the passage to the parliament.
It will start on January 1, and it is expected to collect almost 3 billion dollars in four years.
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