Levy delay puts millions in revenue at risk, say senators

Opposition Senator Ramon Small-Ferguson says the Government’s delay in legislating an increase in the environmental protection levy has cost the country vital revenue, at a time when tax and grant receipts for the April-to-June quarter were already $28.7 billion below budget.

The Environmental Protection Levy Act 2026, which was passed in the Senate on Friday, now sets October 1 as the implementation date for an increase in the levy from 0.5 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

Noting that the legislation was just brought to Parliament this week, Small-Ferguson charged that the delay in the implementation of the levy was troubling.