Article – Fairer tax zone petition

3 April 2014
The North West Star
MOUNT Isa Mayor Tony McGrady has thanked community residents for signing the petition for a fairer zone tax allowance.
Cr McGrady said he was delighted to be able to hand over more than 4000 signatures to the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia yesterday.
“Our community welcomes the decision of the federal government to produce a white paper on northern development because it does a number of things,” Cr McGrady told the hearing.
“It places the issue of the development of northern Australia firmly on the national political agenda and forces our decision makers and senior public servants to address the issues which will be raised during these hearings.”
Cr McGrady said the issues facing northern Australia were many and varied but he said he believed the real issue was making it an attractive place to live.
He said it was difficult to attract investment from businesses when the water supply was not guaranteed.
The council’s submission covered improved water infrastructure and a fairer zone tax allowance for people living in the North West, not fly-in, fly-out workers.
Courtesy of the North West Star