Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Friday Council of Australian Governments

federal government: The prime minister was forced to withdraw the proposal, just two days after hailing it as one of the greatest reforms in generations, after it was rejected by leaders at Friday Council of Australian Governments meeting, according to Nine News Australia. He had proposed reducing the federal government income tax collection and allowing the states and territories to collect the remainder to fund services like hospitals and schools - a power the states gave up in the 1940s. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned state premiers to start living within their means as Labor laughs off his failed income tax plan as a humiliating defeat. Mr Turnbull on Saturday said the states had repeatedly asked him to raise more money for them via federal government taxes but rejected the opportunity to step up and raise their own money."What that means is we must now live within our means," he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday."It is a wake-up call for the state governments."They cannot any longer credibly ask the federal government to raise taxes for them to spend if they were not prepared to raise those taxes themselves."Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Turnbull crazy idea of double taxation had been a "humiliating farce"."He doesn't even have the courage of his convictions."Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said he'd had hangovers that lasted longer than Mr Turnbull policy."I think Britney Spears' first marriage lasted longer than this policy."Health Minister Sussan Ley slammed the state premiers, denying the proposal defeat was an embarrassment."They're quick to ask the Commonwealth to do their dirty work," she told reporters in Melbourne."We should never make an apology for having big ideas and the courage to make a difference."Ms Ley took aim at Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, insisting it was time he put his money where his mouth is, having given the Commonwealth long lists of things he wants funded. But the existing arrangement between federal and state governments left a lot of money spent on bureaucracy and less on the frontline in hospitals. The closer a health dollar fell to the patient, the more effective that money would be, Ms Ley said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.