Barely a week on from his shocking budget, Treasurer Chris Steel has bowed to pressure from the Greens and reduced the Labor government’s threatened $250 annual “health levy” to $100 this year, but only for residential and rural property ratepayers.
Commercial ratepayers will still be charged $250. And the levy will be reviewed for everyone each year.
The government claimed the health levy would recover $205 million over four years to help alleviate the chronic budget shortfalls in health. But the Greens, who hold the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly, refused to support what they described as an “unfair and regressive tax”.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said the party recognised the need for the government to raise revenue to pay for key community services but they didn’t want to see “that load hoisted on to everyday Canberrans in the way that the health levy proposed to do.”
Liberal Leader Leanne Castley said that after a briefing on Monday with the treasurer’s office, it was confirmed that the proceeds of the health levy wouldn’t be necessarily spent on health.
“Instead, it’s going straight into consolidated revenue where the government can spend it wherever they like,” she said.
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