State Major Bank Levy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:43): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier concerned that South Australia's reputation as a place to invest and do business has been affected by the attempt to impose punitive new taxation measures on certain businesses, as the head of Business SA, Nigel McBride, has suggested?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:43): Yes, I am gravely concerned that the Leader of the Opposition has signalled to every major corporate interest in this nation that, if he becomes Premier of this state, he is open for being purchased. This is essentially the message that he has sent to the people of this nation: 'Come here and you can own your own government.'

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order: standing order 128, sir. The Premier is imputing improper motives and I ask him to withdraw and apologise.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I am afraid I ask the Premier to withdraw the expression 'open for purchase'.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, I do apologise for 'open for purchase', but can I say they can—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I'm sorry?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I have withdrawn.

The SPEAKER: The Premier withdraws.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Can I say, though, that they can essentially have their own government here in South Australia. The private banking sector can have their own government here in South Australia.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir: the Premier has now just compounded it by repeating the offence in slightly different words, by saying that businesses can have their own government in South Australia, compounding the offence and repeating the offence.

The SPEAKER: I actually don't uphold that point of order.

Ms Sanderson: The unions have got their own government, haven't they?

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide has been warned repeatedly from the beginning of question time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is of great concern that the banks have launched this extraordinary attack on the character and reputation of South Australians. I think this should be a source of concern for every South Australian, that a sovereign government that has chosen to apply a modest and fair and reasonable tax on a sector of the economy could then be the subject of this extraordinary campaign, which is about damaging our reputation on both a national and, indeed, an international basis.

It is a disgrace, the campaign that the banks have launched against us. It is a campaign which is dishonest. It is a campaign which is based on false facts and material. It is throwing around threats which are simply utterly inconsistent with the banks' responsibility to their shareholders. Are they seriously suggesting they would jeopardise $100 worth of profit to save a third of a cent of profit? That is really what they seem to be suggesting.

Even if that was possible, and even if they could somehow affect the size of the state's share of the national economy through their efforts, which is an open question because I think there would be hundreds of other banks that would actually rush in to lend to any sensible business that had a solid business proposition, the whole underpinning of what the banks are saying is that they would act irrationally in their own interests—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They would act irrationally in their own interests and forgo what are sensible investments to create money here in this state. They wouldn't do that. We know that. Secondly, there is no way that, even if they did that, they could actually shift the dial on the state's share of the national economy thereby reducing their liability.

Mr Bell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It would be a pointless task anyway. They would only be self-harming. Somehow, the people of South Australia are being persuaded through these threats—through these idle threats—that have been made by the banks about what they will do. Those threats they have put in place have scared the Leader of the Opposition. The bodgie poll that was commissioned scared the Leader of the Opposition and made him retreat from the basic principle of allowing governments to have their own budgets. The frightening thing about this is what this says about a Liberal Party in government and, if they were in government, what it would say about their will being overborne by large powerful interests.

Mr PISONI: Point of order: the Premier is entering debate. By referring to the Liberal Party in government he is entering debate.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order.