Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to appeal to Australians' sense of giving mates a helping hand when she releases details today of a levy to pay for the flood rebuilding task.
The prime minister will address the National Press Club in Canberra, where she is tipped to outline the government's plan to increase the Medicare levy by around five dollars a week to pay for repairing roads, bridges and rail lines mainly in flood-ravaged areas.
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and former Treasurer Peter Costello have already slammed the proposed hike.
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Mr Abbott says while the Prime Minister is speaking of a Mateship Tax, mates help each other and don't tax each other.
