Matthew Guy drops plan to scrap Victorian mental health levy on big businesses

Opposition leader Matthew Guy said it was ‘highly difficult for us to remove these taxes’, citing the incumbent Labor government’s budget ‘blowouts’. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Victoria’s opposition has backflipped on its pledge to scrap the Andrews government’s mental health levy, saying the revenue is now a necessary part of the state’s finances.

Announced in last year’s state budget, the mental health and wellbeing levy on big businesses is forecast to raise $843m each year to fund mental health services.