Rodney Stevens, Clarence Valley Independent

The Labor Party have hit back at claims by Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan that the government is taxing flood grants stating they are working with the same system they inherited from the coalition.

In the November 30 edition of the Clarence Valley Independent, in a story on page 16, titled Labor are taxing our flood grants, Mr Hogan said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed during parliament question time that the flood grants were being taxed.

Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the Albanese government was working within the constraints of a system they inherited.

“It’s a bit rich for the former Government to come here and point fingers about these arrangements, given that they are the arrangements they followed,” he said.

“This is the usual practice, which the Government also used in response to the Feb-March floods.

“If Kevin Hogan had a problem with these measures, why did he not raise it during the Feb-March floods which impacted his region, which had exactly the same measures in place.

“While it is far from perfect, as a government we are committed to finding ways to improve the way our grants are administered to ensure we are both responsible with taxpayer funding, while also supporting vulnerable Australians.”

Mr Watt said there were a number of grant programs that were exempt from tax, including the $1000 Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments.

“Recipients of small businesses and primary producer grants can generally claim a tax deduction for the associated expenses for which the grant is being used, resulting in a neutral tax income,” he said.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 7 December 2022.

Related story: Labor are taxing our flood grants.