Goods and Services Tax

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): My question is to the Premier. Has the government received any advice from the Department of Treasury and Finance in relation to the proposed new GST distribution regime?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:24): Absolutely. There has been a huge amount of advice. I presume you mean from our Treasury and Finance here in South Australia. There is a huge amount of work that is being done between our Treasurer and the federal Treasurer and a huge amount of work that is being done by Treasury officers in both jurisdictions.

As I said, that information, which has been moving to and fro, is going to be the basis for what we will be finalising the negotiation on. It's a very big decision. I would say that this intergovernmental agreement is probably the most important in the history of this state. We are talking about billions and billions of dollars. We have to get this right, and that is why we have made it very clear that we do not support anything that disadvantages the people of South Australia.

Those opposite have previously had a different position from that. In fact, most recently, last year and the year before, those opposite were advocating—and they haven't clarified this, so we must just assume it's their current position—a massive increase in GST in South Australia and in the entire country, in fact. They wanted to punish the people of South Australia with an additional tax—they love taxes—a 15 per cent GST in Australia. We don't support that. We have made our position on GST very clear. We don't support a 15 per cent GST, as those opposite have previously advocated. In fact, at one stage, we were spending taxpayer dollars lobbying other states in Australia to actually increase the GST to 15 per cent.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: relevance, sir. The Premier is talking about Labor Party policy in 2015.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Bring him back to the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: The point of order is about whether the Premier is replying to the substance of the question. I believe that, at this point in time, the information is germane. Whilst the Premier is not able to make a partisan speech, he may be able to refer perhaps to other approaches that are being considered in relation to this matter, but I will listen carefully.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I understand that. I will listen carefully, but that is my ruling. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The question was about advice from Treasury to the government. I have looked through various pieces of advice and there was nothing that said you should increase the GST to 15 per cent. We can rule that out. We haven't received any advice to increase the rate of GST to 15 per cent, or 20 per cent, or whatever those opposite would like it to be.

Of course, there has been a huge amount of information that we have received to prepare us for the negotiation that has occurred over the last few months. I am sure the previous government had advice from Treasury regarding the Australian Productivity Commission report, and that is probably why they were nervous, like we were nervous. This could have gone horribly wrong. We were staring down the barrel of a gun. If the Australian Productivity Commission report recommendations had been implemented, this would have been pulling the carpet out from underneath South Australia at exactly the time when we need certainty. We need to make sure that that GST money is coming to South Australia.

I feel very optimistic about the future of South Australia, and the last thing we need at the moment is that GST money, which is already factored into our forward estimates, taken away from us. That is why I say that Malcolm Turnbull is a friend of South Australia: he has guaranteed that no state will be worse off, and that is good news for South Australia.

The SPEAKER: Last supplementary.

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: It's your last lifeline, Tom.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport is called to order.