Australians Oppose Tax Increases for AUKUS

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The Australian Financial Review reported yesterday that nearly 60 percent of Australians do not want the AUKUS nuclear submarine program to be funded through tax increases.

It is estimated that Australia will spend 368 billion AUD over approximately 30 years to access US nuclear powered submarines.

On how the bill for AUKUS will be met, according to a survey by the Australian Institute think tank, 34 percent of respondents supported cuts to other programs in the $48 billion defense budget, while 18 percent expressed an opinion in favor of cuts to other government budgets. While 15 percent of the respondents supported increasing the budget deficit, 11 percent supported tax increases, 22 percent stated that they had no idea.

On the other hand, when asked whether the tax increase should be implemented to cover the costs of AUKUS, 59 percent of respondents opposed it, while only 28 percent supported the tax increase.

Source: RHA Ajans