Payroll Tax

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): Supplementary to the Premier: given the Treasurer's repeated statement today of his threat to write to small businesses indicating that there will be increased payroll taxes—

The SPEAKER: Can we get to the question.

Ms CHAPMAN: —as a result of no state bank tax, will he direct the Treasurer not to write to intimidate small business?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for the Arts) (14:15): I thank the deputy leader for her question. I could imagine that the Treasurer may wish to communicate with small business people in South Australia to explain precisely what has happened in the South Australian parliament. He would be well within his rights to draw to their attention that this government sought to give them a payroll tax deduction and that the parliament in its wisdom decided to block that. In any event, the Treasurer has decided, in what I think is a sensible decision—

Members interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —to nevertheless find an administrative means of passing on those payroll tax cuts. Of course, this raises a—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is not something that one would have expected, given that the Leader of the Opposition said this on 26 June:

There's a 175-year history where the government's budget of the day gets passed. There was an extraordinary situation set up in the 2014 election because that was an election which I think gave a clear mandate to our position to scrap the car park tax. That isn't the situation in this instance.

So we were well within our rights. We were well within our rights to rely upon what the Leader of the Opposition said about passing this set of measures to make sure that our budget was passed in full. We are entitled to assume that because it came out of the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition. Then of course he had one visit from a bank and he shifted his position.

This is what the people of South Australia can come to expect in the next four years if he was ever standing in this position. That is, somebody powerful leans on him and he shifts his position, just like he did on the 50 per cent renewable energy target when Malcolm Turnbull got on the phone and leant on him and said, 'Scrap the 50 per cent renewable energy target.' Powerful interests. What happens when Sally Zou picks up the phone and says, 'I want a return on my investment'? What will happen next?

Members interjecting:

Ms CHAPMAN: Supplementary.

The SPEAKER: Before the supplementary, I call to order the Treasurer, the member for Hammond, the member for Heysen and the Minister for Agriculture, and I warn for the first time the members for Heysen and Unley and the Minister for Agriculture, and I warn for the second and the very last time the member for Unley. Deputy leader.