House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Land Tax Land Tax Ms HABIB House of Assembly Elder Land Tax Ms HABIB (Elder) (14:17): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier update the house on the government's plans to reform our state's land tax regime, and how will that support South Australians, especially those who have worked so hard to set themselves up for retirement? The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Premier Land Tax The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:17): I thank the member for Elder for her question. Unlike those opposite, who want to major in the minors for every single one of their question times so far, we are dealing with the big issues that are important to the people of South Australia. I will tell you one of the things that is really important— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to the people of South Australia, and that is the very high level of taxation that those opposite inflicted upon every single household and every single business in South Australia. Ever since the moment I came into this place, I have stood for lower tax, less intrusion on individuals and businesses by the government of this state. We are already hitting the ground—in fact, we did it from opposition. We did it from opposition because we blocked that car park tax and we actually also very proudly blocked the imposition of that massive state bank tax that the previous treasurer wanted to inflict upon the people of South Australia. They are addicted to tax and wasteful expenditure. Well, there's a new game in town: lower taxes, a growing economy, more jobs and the ability to keep young people here in our state. I have already outlined to the house our plans to reduce payroll tax come 1 January next year. Those opposite will know that we will be implementing a reduction in stamp duty come 1 July this year. But one thing that I haven't updated to the house already is our plan to lower land tax. You would know, sir, as would other members of the house, that land tax in South Australia is the highest in the nation. This is a massive handbrake on business activity in this state. It is also a body blow to people who have worked hard, accumulated assets and, each and every year, they basically have the Treasurer's hand in their pocket. We are going to be doing everything we can as soon as we possibly can to reduce the burden on those people. Can I just say that at the moment South Australia currently has the highest top marginal tax rate of land tax in the nation at a whopping 3.7 per cent annually. This is an incredible imposition on people who have worked hard, accumulated assets and invested in them. I am sure that there are people opposite who have people in their electorates who are very upset with the very high level of land tax that they are paying. The good news that you can go back and tell all those people in your electorate is that we now have a Liberal government in place in South Australia that wants to lower that burden on them. Can I just tell you what we will be doing? From 1 July 2020, we will be doing two things. First of all, we will be increasing the threshold on which people are paying land tax, from the incredibly low $353,000 current threshold up to $450,000—an increase of almost $100,000, or around 30 per cent. We will also be doing everything we can to reduce that top marginal rate for holdings. Where that is a value of less than $5 million, we will be bringing the top rate down from 3.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent. Is this enough? Well, let me tell you, I would like to do more. I would like to do everything I can to ease the burden—the taxation burden and the regulatory burden—on households, families and small business in this state. I recommit myself today, in this chamber, and to you, sir, that every day that I'm in here in this parliament I will be doing everything I can to make this a more attractive place for people to invest, to create businesses, to employ people and to grow our economy and, most importantly, to keep our next generation right here in South Australia.