GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:53): My question is again to the Premier. What would be the impact on South Australia of a plan to switch to a per capita basis for dividing GST revenue?

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker: hypothetical questions are out of order. 'What would be the impact of a plan?' is a hypothetical question.

The SPEAKER: Hypothetical questions can be out of order, but in this case I do not consider it so. It is seeking an opinion of fact. I will let the Premier answer it and I will listen carefully.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer, behave!

Ms Chapman: Tell us about the carbon tax.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. I find it amazing that it seems that the government has done modelling on a plan and has done no modelling of the impact of the carbon tax on South Australia.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Sit down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:54): It will become apparent why they do not want to hear the answer. Shortly stated, the estimate of moving to a per capita basis for shares of GST would cost the state of South Australia around $1 billion per annum. That is why I am deeply concerned about a proposal outlined by Tony Abbott today in Perth to split GST revenue on a direct per capita basis. In an article by Mr Ben Packham of The Australian online, Mr Abbott said these words:

I think that what ought to be very seriously considered by the government right now is the proposal that all the Liberal states have put up, that the GST revenue should be distributed on what is closer to a per capita arrangement.

This is a chilling development. Surely those opposite would disagree with slashing billions out of the state budget—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I will read a bit more, actually, for those opposite: 'This is the unified—'

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The house will come to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, sit down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: He goes on to say these things, 'This is the unified position of the Coalition premiers. I think it makes a lot of sense.' This cut to our budget would be larger than the police and emergency services combined, and we have got a bit of an insight into how the leader of the federal opposition behaves. Remember that famous remark, 'Don't worry about a gigalitre of water here—'

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Not only has the Premier failed to read the article in context but he is now entering into debate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, be careful with how you are answering it.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is a very serious matter. It's a very serious matter if we are to believe from the recently published polls that this man has at least a reasonable chance of becoming the prime minister of this country. He was indicating that he is favourably disposed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: He is favourably disposed towards putting a cut to South Australian revenues in the order of a billion dollars per annum. What is alarming about this is that we have heard him say—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We have heard him say, 'Don't worry about a gigalitre of water here or a dollar of subsidy there.' That was code for, 'Don't worry about Holden's or the River Murray,' which was code for, 'Don't worry about South Australia, we've got this in the bag already.' That is what the coded message was and the worrying thing is that if this man was to become prime minister he would be prepared to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: Standing order 98 clearly states that the minister must not enter debate in answering a question.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for MacKillop. I would ask the Premier to return to the substance of the question. Have you finished answering the question?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Waite.