State Major Bank Levy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): My question is to the Treasurer. Was Rob Chapman, head of the government's own Investment Attraction agency, wrong when he said that it would be naive to think that a state bank tax would not impact investment and job creation?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:34): I can't think of many bankers who would be supporting this tax. Why would a banker support it?

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on two warnings.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I think it is only appropriate that people who are supporters of the banking industry have their say, and Rob Chapman is entitled to have his view, as is the government. Like the commonwealth government—

Mr Marshall: Was he wrong? Answer the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Is this how it is going to be from now on, sir, just constant interjecting? Is this how it happens in every other parliament in the country, sir, just constant yelling? Mr Rob Chapman is entitled to his view, the government is entitled to its, as is the commonwealth government, as is the commonwealth Treasurer. Commonwealth treasurers and commonwealth governments and state governments are sovereign, and they are entitled to make their own budgets and they are entitled to raise revenue to spend on productive parts of our economy. This budget bill is being debated as we speak right here, right now. We are not hiding it. We are out here in the public and the open. We are talking about what it is we want to do. We have many advisers—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call the leader to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —who do not share our political views.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I ask you to bring the Treasurer back to the substance of the question which was very clear: was the head of the Investment Attraction agency—

The SPEAKER: Yes, I know what the question was and it seems to me that the question is an invitation to the Treasurer to put his point of view about the merits of the proposed tax, and that is what he is doing. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This government has a number of advisers who don't share our political beliefs. Former premier Rob Kerin is an adviser of this government. I don't know who Rob Chapman votes for and I don't care. Often we have people who advise us in the business community who do not come from the Labor stable, and that is a good thing for our state that we have people who aren't identical to us advising us. We are not always going to agree with them.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: As every member who has been in a cabinet knows, cabinet and budget deliberations are for the government and for cabinet. We have robust debates internally. Our policies are here in the parliament right now being debated. The merits of them will be canvassed in this parliament. We don't know what the opposition's plans are because they won't reveal them, yet the opposition leader says we are on the eve of an election. It is imminent. It is five minutes away.

Mr Marshall: Bring it on.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Bring it on—but without any policies. That's their health policy, no policy. I am loath to use a great old line about doing him slowly, but we won't because we have already done it once to him. I don't want to do it again. What we want to do is have a debate—a debate of ideas. We have our policies out there in the open and we are talking about them. We are talking about revenue measures on a part of the economy that is undertaxed yet making super profits.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The members for Adelaide and Morialta continue to interject long after they received their last warning.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The government is entitled to raise revenue from—

The SPEAKER: The remedy for the Treasurer debating is not interjecting. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The government is entitled to raise revenue from parts of the economy that are undertaxed and use that money productively within the economy to create jobs so that we can grow. We, of course, have seen today a remarkable quote by the Leader of the Opposition in the budget reply debate where he said he wanted South Australia to grow at the same rate as the nation's growth. But that would mean that we would need to slow down, because last financial year our gross state product grew at 2¼ per cent and the nation's grew at 1¾ per cent. Rather than the members opposite saying that the economy has ground to a halt, why don't they just tell the truth?