CAR PARKING LEVY

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Transport Services. Given the answer of the Premier in respect of public transport, can the minister advise what the government's modelling indicated will be the increase in revenue from bus and train tickets as a result of the car park tax?

The SPEAKER: Premier.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley will come to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:04): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Of course, the arrangements that flow from the car parking levy and the effect that they have on people and their usage of public transport is something that will first have to be observed. Generally, Treasury takes a very conservative approach to revenue, as they take a very conservative approach to expenditure, but that is the nature of the way in which they model these sorts of arrangements.

It is unlikely that Treasury will be factoring in increases in revenue associated with increased usage of public transport. It also needs to be borne in mind that public transport is something that we invest in and generally is a subsidised service. To the extent to which we do that, it actually generates some degree of costs as well. So, what we are talking—

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier, would you be seated. I am not going to warn the member for Adelaide for the second time, because I am going to take the view that she was talking to herself. The Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The way in which this particular tax and its incidence occur over time and the effect that they have on state budgets will be a matter for future forecasting. At the moment there is no particular forecast increase in revenue associated with that because of an increase in usage of public transport, and that is what you would come to expect from Treasury modelling, which is conservative on revenue uplifts, especially in circumstances where this is not an arrangement that will come into force until the middle of next year.