It might be difficult to understand how such a relatively tough tax managed  to cut through the thick no-tax atmosphere choking the Senate, and survive the strong-arm tobacco lobby, if it weren't for one obvious point. The tax won  easy approval from the Finance, Taxation and Claims Committee because it is  designed to pay for 21,000 new prison beds over the next five years. In this  political, get-tough-on-crime climate, who could be against building more  prisons?