Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Payroll tax is essentially a state tax. States impose a variety of taxes, including payroll tax. So, effectively, this supplement was the Commonwealth transferring funds to the various states around Australia via the aged-care sector. It is this government's belief that states are responsible for their own tax measures, including payroll tax, and that this is a matter, therefore, for the states. On that basis, the Commonwealth decided that in future we are not going to supplement—we are not going to, in effect, provide a subsidy to—the states in relation to their taxes. That is a matter entirely for the states.

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