State Major Bank Levy

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:11): My question is to the Treasurer. Has the Treasurer received any advice from his department or any industry sources that the announcement of his new state bank tax in the recent budget has led to five institutional bidders withdrawing bids for commercial property assets in South Australia?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:11): No. In fact, you would have read in the Financial Review, I think today, that Westpac's own Hastings is making a very serious bid for the Lands Titles Office. We have also seen the reduction in stamp duty on commercial properties from 1 July being halved, so we will become the only state in Australia not to charge conveyance duty not only on non-real property transactions, which is intellectual property, plant and equipment and goodwill, but now we are not going to charge stamp duty on commercial real property.

These are dramatic changes that make South Australia very investable. In fact, one of the world's most flamboyant and charismatic businessmen, a billionaire from the United Kingdom, has just bought Arrium, a very large piece of property in our state's north in the City of Whyalla. I have not seen any advice that there are any people potentially pulling out of any land sales, but if there are people who have pulled out there will be plenty of competition because what we are seeing in South Australia through our dramatic tax cuts is a very active commercial property sector—very active.

Indeed, in the most recent budget we have published a metric of taxation values on a per capita basis. The highest taxing jurisdiction in the country on a per capita basis is the Australian Capital Territory; followed by New South Wales, which has a Liberal government; followed by Victoria, which has a Labor government; followed by Western Australia, which had a Liberal government and now has a Labor government; then Queensland; then South Australia. So, we are not ahead of all the other states, as members opposite tell us.

I also note that, for the last three years in a row, South Australia's real per capita growth in gross state product compared to gross domestic product has been either the third highest in the nation or the second highest in the nation.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Members are happy to interject. Perhaps they should ask questions seeking information rather than just taking cheap shots.

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is called to order, the member for Newland is called to order and the member for Chaffey is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I think the most important part of relating the impacts of major bank levies is the commonwealth government's most recent budget. John Fraser was appointed by the Abbott government as the secretary of the commonwealth Treasury, replacing Martin Parkinson—an esteemed position in our country, an esteemed position. We know what Mr Morrison has said about the impacts of the major bank levy on the competitiveness of Australia for foreign direct investment, that it will be negligible; it won't impact it whatsoever.

I think members opposite have to be very careful here because, if they are saying that our bank levy will impact our competitiveness and our attractiveness, aren't they saying the same thing about the nation? Aren't they saying the same thing about Australia as a destination for foreign direct investment? But, of course, when the commonwealth bank levy was introduced members opposite were silent, yet they now all tell us that they were all opposed to it. Does that mean then, when the commonwealth government makes decisions they don't like, that they think aren't in the interests of the nation, they just go quiet?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They do, because the only time we hear about it is—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will not encourage members of the opposition to interject or interrupt him and I call him to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Thank you very much, sir, for your guidance. I quote commonwealth Treasury modelling:

…Treasury modelled the economy-wide effects of the proposed bank levy. This required making various assumptions with respect to the incidence of the levy, though sensitivity analysis showed that overall the results were invariant to those assumptions. This affirmed our view that the impact is expected to be negligible.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I thank the member for Stuart for his assistance with the timing.