The gst is paid by business as well as people. It does not apply to food. People on higher incomes spend more and will pay more gst.
This seems better than trying to work out who should and who should not pay the levy, which is fraught with inequities. E.g. should Victorians affected by floods pay the levy, or should Queenslanders help Victorians. And then, who helps victims of the Perth bushfire. The once "Queensland flood levy" has now been racked by cyclones in Queensland, further floods in Victoria, and now bushfires in Perth. And the bushfire season is only beginning.
Also, think of past bushfires, as in Victoria in 2009, when dozens perished.
No, rather than inventing new levies, let us fix the problem once and for all. Using the gst may also mean that green projects will not have to be cut from the budget, since a larger part of the disaster recovery is being met by the "gst 1%" of $4.3 billion.
