TAXATION

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:51): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier be trusted on his word, after he promised no new taxes and no increased taxes or charges, yet increased taxes on poker machines and then introduced a new tax to save the River Murray? I remind the Premier that when he was opposition leader he said:

I'm making a pledge: no new taxes. I'm making a pledge: no increased taxes or charges. And, if I break that pledge, I will resign.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:52): I have been somewhat surprised at the poor quality of questioning today. When the fourth question of the day is, 'Do you rule out tax increases?', you would have to say: what has the opposition been doing for the last few weeks in terms of researching material to hold the government accountable? I have made it very clear that increasing taxation is not the way in which to deal with our budgetary issues—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop is warned a second time.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —as a result of the impact on revenue from the global financial crisis. While we have seen stronger economic growth than predicted, we have not seen the resurgence in revenue that would normally accompany such economic activity. People are clearly still very careful—

Mr PISONI: I have a point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: My ground is relevance. This question was about a promise that the Premier made, and the Deputy Premier has got up to answer it.

The SPEAKER: No, there is no point of order at all. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sir, they put a pledge card up and talk about taxes from a 2003 budget. We are heading into an election in 2010, and they are harping back to what occurred then. What I have said repeatedly—

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Finniss!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What I have said repeatedly is I do not believe increasing taxation is the way in which—

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Why don't you ask a question? Why don't you show a bit of courage, for once, in this place?

Mr GRIFFITHS: I have a point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader.

Mr GRIFFITHS: The Treasurer is clearly debating the issue now. He was asked a specific question and is making other accusations against members.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier should not make references to the deputy's courage.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I simply said he lacked courage, and I apologise for that.

An honourable member: You're reflecting on his person.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And he hasn't with me?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I have repeatedly said—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Unley!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What a legend that guy is over there. Got rid of one leader with a false document and he is working on this one, probably. I said that tax increases are not the answer. This government will not be going into this election campaign promising to increase taxes; that is not going to happen.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I did hear the member for MacKillop defending and saying how great the sale of ETSA was on radio this morning, but if you want to go back a few years, we have got that one on tape.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No, it did not, actually.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Why didn't you get it when you were in government when you sold it?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Exactly. It was up to this government. This was the government that had the courage to cut services. It had the courage to balance the budget. What we do have—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Davenport!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What we do have on the horizon, which will be a public policy debate for all governments of this nation, is the Henry review of taxation. Every member is aware that the Henry review is a wholesale review of the way in which taxes are levied in this nation. The issue of—

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: How big was yours?

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: We have put one in.

Mr Pengilly interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: What we have a problem with in this nation is vertical fiscal imbalance. There is barely a cabinet meeting when my colleagues do not bemoan VFI to me—the minister for sport in particular. Vertical fiscal imbalance has challenged the member for Lee for decades. What the Henry review is doing is saying that—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You asked me the question and I am giving you a wholesome answer. The vast majority of taxes in this nation are collected by the commonwealth government but the vast majority of services and expenditure are delivered by the states. What the Henry review will do, one hopes, is give the states access to more commonwealth tax revenue—no more tax increases, but more access to the share of revenue that is raised nationally. I think that is a good idea and so does Troy Buswell in Western Australia and every other state treasurer. Whether we can get to that point with the Henry review remains to be seen.