GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Finance. Will the minister confirm that the GST revenue growth has exceeded South Australia's economic growth in nine out of the last 10 years and that the state government has also budgeted for this to occur in each of the next four years?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:27): Thank you, Madam—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can I just also add for the interest of the house that we have had an opportunity to communicate with Mr Bill Evans, who, I think, is relied on by those opposite. He in fact confirms that he didn't say South Australia was in a recession. He said that state final demand contracted in two quarters and that some people might refer to this as a recession rather than wait for the gross state product data.

So quick are they to seize on any piece of bad news that they have been embarrassed talking down the state. This is consistently the position of those opposite. They are more interested in getting a quick political point—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order. Standing order 98: relevance. The question actually was about whether the government could confirm that the GST revenue growth has exceeded South Australia's economic growth in nine out of the last 10 years and that the government has also budgeted for this to occur in the next four years. That was the question, and the Premier is going nowhere near it.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Premier, I would ask you to return to the substance of the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I am happy to do that, Madam Speaker. I just thought I might—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —illuminate the house with some relevant material to an earlier question. Obviously, the question of our forecasts about future GST growth will depend on material that we get from the commonwealth. We will be making—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We will be illuminating all of that at the time when we receive that information—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —from the commonwealth. And, of course, the responses that we need to make will be published in our state budget when that becomes a reality.