Thursday, 18 May 2023

Southern Metropolitan Region

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:54): (191) My question is to the Treasurer, and it is in relation to the State Revenue Office targeting GPs by imposing payroll tax on medical practices. The question I want to ask the Treasurer is: will he meet with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as a matter of urgency to rule out this tax? In discussions with GPs in my electorate they have raised serious concerns about the implications of taxing medical practices with a payroll tax liability. What is particularly concerning is that this is a retrospective tax which will be backdated by up to five years. This is a very, very bad tax. We know that it is a blatant cash grab from the government. We know the state government have plunged Victoria into a very serious and detrimental fiscal position, so they are going out there to get money from anywhere they can. But taxing GPs like this will have serious implications for the delivery of health services across the state. As I said, I would like the Treasurer to rule this out and meet with the college as soon as possible so that they can get clarity.