Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens support the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011. In the work that was done by the government in arranging for more than $5 billion to go to relieving the suffering of people as a result of the extraordinary flood events that we have seen so far this summer, the Greens fed a series of proposals into how that money might best be found. Amongst the proposals that we accepted from government was this levy, which will raise $1.7 billion. It is notable that the levy will not be raised on people who have suffered as a result of the floods. It is very progressive in that it puts a 0.5 per cent impost on people who earn between $50,000 and $100,000 in the coming financial year. That increases for people earning more than $100,000 to an extra 0.5 per cent—that is, one per cent of their income over $100,000. It is very progressive and the majority of money here will be raised from high-income earners like us senators, who take home in excess of $100,000 per annum.