PATERSON CANNOT AFFORD

FLOOD LEVY

Bob Baldwin, Member for Paterson said Julia Gillard had slapped Australians in the face by imposing a big new tax, at a time when skyrocketing interest rates, grocery prices and fuel costs were already breaking family budgets.

“This levy is offensive to those people who gave generously to help others, only to be rewarded with a big new tax,” said Mr Baldwin.

“Local residents have already started calling my office to tell me that if we have another crisis like this they will not donate, because the Gillard Labor Government will forcefully take the money anyway.

“The Gillard Labor Government has now so grossly mismanaged the economy and racked up so much debt, that it cannot even help its own people without hurting millions of others.

“The Paterson community remembers Labor’s mismanagement of the BER, it remembers the home insulation fiasco, and it knows all too well the cost blowout of Labor’s border protection failure,” said Mr Baldwin.

Mr Baldwin was emcee at a Flood Fundraiser at Soldiers Point Bowling Club on Tuesday night which raised approximately $15,000 according to early estimates.

“What I saw on Tuesday at Soldiers Point was amazing generosity from the local community, which will now be stung by a great big new tax because of Labor’s incompetence,” said Mr Baldwin.

“The Australian public is not a magic pudding -  people have a limit on what they can afford and they have already given what they can.

“Labor could have made the tough decisions, it could have cut its reckless and wasteful spending to help flood victims, but instead it has decided to tax, tax, tax,” said Mr Baldwin.

Mr Baldwin said he would vote against the legislation in Parliament.