When Victoria Thinks It's The Commonwealth
A Bill passed in the Victorian Parliament this week may have done so against the Australian Constitution.
The State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill included within it an increase in the livestock duty collected from the sale of sheep, goats and their carcasses from 12 cents to 35 cents per head.
Producer groups were consulted on the change.
But the Liberal Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, has questioned the legality of the levy itself.
“Did the Government even stop for a moment to consider whether they were entitled to that money?” Mrs McArthur asked the parliament.
The issue has also been raised in the Scrutiny of Acts of Regulations Committee on which Mrs McArthur sits.
The levy could be illegitimately imposed by the state given it represents an excise, a mechanism only available to the Federal Government.
Mrs McArthur questioned the Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes on the Victorian Government’s capacity to charge the levy, and the legality of doing so.
“Has the Minister considered the High Court rulings in Ha v. NSW 1997 and Logan Downs Pty Ltd v. Queensland, holding that a tax on owning a certain livestock is an excise and that the application of section 90 of the Australian constitution would make any such duty invalid?
“The effect of the Government’s levy is to increase a duty that can only be imposed by the Federal Government”.
She said the levy was another demonstration of the Government’s tendency to overreach and its carelessness in doing so.
The Minister admitted to the Parliament that she had not received legal advice on the levy.
“This is a Government that feigns the interest of farmers when our trading relationship with China is under stress and the state’s signatory with the dubious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is in doubt,” Mrs McArthur said.
“The State’s care-factor towards regional Victoria and the agriculture sector is evident in this Bill.
“Just as he has with the BRI, and hotel quarantine, Premier Andrews is in danger yet again of reaching beyond his competence and political echelon.
“It’s symptomatic of a government too arrogant to do its homework.
“He has his finger on the repeat button.
“For this Premier, it’s social engineering and Communism first - and democratic, lawful government second.”
11 December 2020