House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time State Economy STATE ECONOMY The Hon. I.F. EVANS House of Assembly Davenport STATE ECONOMY The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:06): Could the minister confirm that the three largest sources of state-sourced taxation—payroll tax, stamp duty and land tax—are driven by economic activity? The Hon. P.F. CONLON House of Assembly The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order, Madam Speaker. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Point of order, Minister for Transport. Are you pointing out that that is not a supplementary? The Hon. P.F. CONLON House of Assembly The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I am pointing out it's not supplementary to— The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: It is three questions. The Hon. P.F. CONLON House of Assembly The Hon. P.F. CONLON: —the comment that I am not sure it was in context. I cannot see how that, in any sense, is supplementary. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Thank you, minister; I had already decided that that is a question. Do you want to ask the Minister for Finance that question? The Premier is going to answer it. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (15:07): The honourable member has just triggered my memory about the context, actually, and of course it really flows from— The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting: The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is. Of course, we had some insight into the member for Davenport's trickiness: we all remember the story, up in the— Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Madam Speaker. The Premier is answering the previous question. As you have said, it was not a supplementary. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order there. Premier. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, it flows from the first question that the Leader of the Opposition advanced, where she seemed to make the spurious point that a reduction in the level of activity was going to flow directly into the reduction in revenue. That was the context in which the Treasurer made his remarks, and so it is of course a tricky question for the member for Davenport to advance in that fashion. Of course, there are a range of— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: There are a range of taxes which relate to economic activity, but the particular— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The particular modelling that occurred that allowed Treasury to forecast the effects of the Olympic Dam expansion on the state budget was based on uplift in the payroll tax. That was what was plugged into the budget numbers, that is the thing which is now potentially at risk, obviously, because of the absence of the project not proceeding. The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting: The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Now, he can— The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Davenport, you have asked your question twice. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: He spends his time thinking of tricky questions to ask, and it takes the place of advancing serious, positive policies for the future of our state. But, can I reassure those opposite that we will give a full account—and assure the people of South Australia that we will give a full account—of the effect on the budget of any changes, positive and negative, at the Mid-Year Budget Review.