Water Commission denies tax plans for rainwater tanks\Monday, 15 January 2007An angry National Water Commission says weekend media reports that it is proposing a tax on rainwater collected from roofs is plain wrong. Chairman and chief executive of the Commission, Ken Matthews, says the NWC has not proposed, and would not support, such a tax. Mr Matthews says that the leaked email referred to in a report in Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun newspaper did not even mention the word "tax". In a statement to the media, the NWC says the Sunday Herald Sun had been told in writing before publication that: the NWC strongly supports use of rainwater tanks where cost effective; and the NWC is not proposing that governments introduce entitlement regimes ('licencing') for rooftop water. Mr Matthews says the Commission took the view that with the current bad seasons and growing evidence of climate change, all new sources of water and forms of water conservation need to be carefully fostered in Australia. A positive and stable regulatory regime would contribute to that, while a new tax on rainwater would not, he says. SOURCE: National rural news updated daily on FarmOnline. | |
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