Preliminary pages
Foreword
The natural disasters over the Australian summer have
exacted a high price in lives and damage to private property and
infrastructure. Under established arrangements with the States, the
Commonwealth will be funding over $5 billion in infrastructure repairs and
replacement, with the great majority of this work occurring in Brisbane.
In January, the Government decided to fund $1.8 billion of
this work through a temporary flood reconstruction levy, which will apply on a
one-off basis to individual taxpayers for 2011-12. The remainder of the work
will be funded through spending cuts and deferring other infrastructure
projects. On 10 February 2011, the Government introduced the Income Tax
Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and the Tax
Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 to implement the
levy. These Bills were the subject of the inquiry.
The Committee held a day of hearings on the Bills. At the
hearing there was strong support for the reconstruction work, and this reflects
community support for the recovery as well. While there was a range of views on
whether borrowings, taxes, or spending cuts should be used to fund
reconstruction, it was also put to the Committee that, in the context of total
annual outlays of $350 billion, any of these three funding methods would be
suitable. The Committee has therefore concluded that the House of
Representatives should pass the Bills.
I would like to thank the witnesses who attended the hearing
and freely gave of their expertise to the Committee. I would also like to thank
my colleagues on the Committee who assisted with the inquiry on a topic that
has shocked and disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of Australians. The
projects that these Bills will fund will play a large role in restoring the
lives of people affected by the disasters.
Craig Thomson MP
Chair
Membership of the Committee
Chair |
Mr Craig Thomson MP |
|
Deputy
Chair |
Mr Steven Ciobo MP |
|
Members |
Mr Scott Buchholz MP |
Mr Stephen Jones MP |
|
Dr Andrew Leigh MP |
Ms Kelly O’Dwyer MP |
|
Ms Julie Owens MP |
|
Committee Secretariat
Secretary |
Mr Stephen Boyd |
Inquiry
Secretary |
Mr David Monk |
|
Mr Andrew Gaczol |
Administrative
Officer |
Ms Emily Costelloe |
Terms of reference
On 10 February 2011, the House Selection Committee presented
its report referring the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood
Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood
Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 to the House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Economics for inquiry and report. Under Standing Order 222(e), the
House is taken to have adopted the Selection Committee’s reports when they are
presented.
List of abbreviations
QGIF |
Queensland Government Insurance
Fund |
NDRRA |
Natural Disaster Relief and
Recovery Arrangements |
List of recommendations
That the House of Representatives pass the Bills.
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