Coronavirus Australia: ‘Not popular’: Call for tax hike

Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari has called for a 1 per cent tax on all Australians to pay for Victoria’s post-coronavirus recovery.

Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari has called for a 1 per cent tax on all Australians to pay for Victoria’s post-coronavirus recovery.

He says the move, similar to the Gillard government’s controversial flood levy in the wake of the 2010-11 Queensland floods, would raise around $2 billion.

Mr Dastyari told 2GB’s Ben Fordham if “we’re all in this together” Victoria would need “a really big bailout”.

Sam Dastyari. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

“It’s really just put up or shut up time,” he said.

“If we’re going to treat this the way we treat flood or other disasters we’ve got to get serious about putting a levy on and that means everyone else is going to have to foot the bill. It’s not popular, it’s not a loved idea, but it’s the reality … it’s all we can do.”

The Gillard government’s flood levy added an additional 0.5 per cent tax for those earning between $50,000 and $100,000, while those earning over $100,000 were hit with an additional 1 per cent.