The Labor Opposition has done the right thing in exempting the proposed tax levy to pay compensation for automatic and semi-automatic guns from the Government’s pre-election promise not to raise taxes. Clearly circumstances have changed since the election and such a tax is a reasonable way for financing what is clearly in the public interest and desired by the vast majority of Australians … to help rid society of the danger of death and injury arising from semi-automatic and automatic weapons.
Given the overwhelming response to the massacre at Port Arthur, expressed in opinion polls and endorsed by the state police ministers, a levy seems a reasonable way to finance the program. It would be unfair to gun-owners, who bought their guns when it was legal to do so, not to receive compensation if the guns become illegal. Moreover, fair compensation will encourage them to respond to the amnesty. For that reason, compensation should err on the side of generosity.
That said, corporate Australia will also benefit from fewer guns in the community. Banks and other places vulnerable to hold-ups will especially benefit. It would be fair to extend the levy to company tax as well as income tax. The precedent for this sort of taxation is the levy on insurance premiums to go to fire brigades.
The danger is that the one-off levy will become a popular cry for all sorts of special interests. However, the gun issue is different because of the extraordinary nature of the Port Arthur massacre and the need for an historic turning point.