MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ruled out any rise in taxes speculated to be caused by the country's involvement in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), The Guardian reported Tuesday.
"This is a government which believes in lower taxes not higher taxes. We will pay what we must to do our duty by our country and by the wider world. Just at the moment, national security and international security are indivisible. We think we can afford it," the newspaper quoted Abbott as telling reporters in Canberra, Australia.
Still, Abbott acknowledged the campaign would hit the country's pocket but stressed, "We can manage these things."
On October 6, Australia joined the international coalition set up by the United States to fight against the IS. Earlier media reports suggested that Australia's participation in the ant-IS campaign would result in an increase in domestic taxes.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control.
