Goods and Services Tax

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): Supplementary question: how can the Premier be so sure of the Prime Minister's commitment that South Australia will not be worse off if there are still negotiations to occur and detail to be seen?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Premier would you like to have a go at that one?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:19): Well, I don't know—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It's difficult to explain this any slower or any more clearly. We haven't signed the intergovernmental agreement, and we on this side of the house make it very clear that we won't be signing any agreement if South Australia is disadvantaged. What we would like to know, though, of course is: what is the Leader of the Opposition's position on this?

Mr Malinauskas: We want to see the detail. We know your position.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What the Leader of the Opposition needs to explain to this house is where he has been. Where has he been when they were in government?

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Where has he been—

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is a point of order. I will hear it.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir.

The SPEAKER: The point of order is for debate. At this stage, I am listening carefully to the Premier's answer. I note that he is being interjected.

Mr Malinauskas: No he's not!

The SPEAKER: Members on my left are interjecting—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: —as are members on my right. I remind members that interjections are highly out of order. I expect to hear the Premier's answer in silence. I will be listening carefully to ensure that he does not stray from the substance of the question. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. As I was explaining to the house, we are excited about the negotiation, which will be concluded hopefully before the end of this year, for the new intergovernmental agreement regarding the distribution of GST in Australia. It is a very significant negotiation which has taken place but it hasn't been concluded, and I give my commitment to this house and to this parliament that we won't be signing anything that disadvantages the people of South Australia.

I note that the intention is for this to be concluded by the end of this year—in fact, possibly as early as October or November this year—but sometimes these things do slip. Sometimes, the best laid plans of mice and men—what's that expression?—'gang aft a-gley'. Sometimes they go astray. I think the only nagging concern I have regarding securing this deal for the people of South Australia is that it isn't concluded before the next federal election and the people of Australia do not re-elect a Coalition government.

I tell you, there is some concern here because we haven't heard anything from the Australian Labor Party regarding this issue. In fact, the only thing that we have heard literally hours after the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, was in South Australia last time, he flew out—guess where?

The Hon. D.C. van Holst Pellekaan: Perth.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Perth, Western Australia! He made no comment in South Australia about securing our GST distribution; he flew straight over to Perth. What did he say there? He said Western Australia deserves more money.

Mr MULLIGHAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Where is Western Australia going to get that money from?

The SPEAKER: There's a point of order, Premier, one moment. Point of order?

Mr MULLIGHAN: Standing order 98: this is clearly debate.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Premier to please return to the substance of the question. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I was saying, sir, we will not be signing up to any deal. We hope that that deal will be concluded before the next federal election because we have a commitment from the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, a friend of South Australia, who has given us a commitment. He has given us a commitment that no state will be any worse off, and we won't be signing anything that says that. So our position is very clear.

As I said, the only worry for us is if it's not concluded and there's a change in the federal government, because we have no clarity from the Australian Labor Party at the federal level, or from those opposite—no clarity from those opposite whatsoever—what their position on this is. Our position is very clear and we've made it very clear—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and we've said we will only sign an agreement if we are not disadvantaged in South Australia. I've heard no such commitment from those opposite. We are not clear about what their position is. We know that they have to fall into line. We know that they have to fall into line with their party, and their party's position is to give a big leg-up to Western Australia—a big leg-up to Western Australia—and the Australian Productivity Commission's report is clear: that money should come from South Australia. We do not share that view. It would be about time that those opposite started clarifying their position.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before I call the next speaker, I call to order the following members: the member for West Torrens, the Leader of the Opposition, the Premier and the member for Waite. Leader of the Opposition.