GM HOLDEN

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (14:27): My question is again to the Premier. What payroll tax and land tax charges did the state government require of Holden in the last financial year, and were those charges greater than would have been charged in any other state for a business of that size?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:27): I will take that on notice and bring back an answer but, once again, Holden have not advanced to us, in any negotiations, that they sought relief from payroll tax or land tax. Indeed, the most recent study that we did in relation to land tax demonstrated that in South Australia, for industrial lands of the type that are occupied by Holden, the land tax burden for properties of similar amenity located similar distances from the metropolitan area would actually attract a lower level of land tax than in most other jurisdictions. We are either at the middle of the range or at the lowest of the range for land tax.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That is because, Mr Speaker, those opposite, when they actually bandy around their land tax figures, compare properties of the same value in different states and seek to compare land tax on that basis when, of course, a property of the same value in a different place buys you a very different property.

The SPEAKER: A point of order from the member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: The Premier has sat down, but he was actually debating the issue and talking about what we do.

The SPEAKER: We can't have that. Supplementary, member for Waite.