Land Tax

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:52): My question is again to the Premier. Has the government received any advice from Treasury that the land tax aggregation measures could raise more than the $40 million per year set out in the budget papers?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:52): I am not aware of that. Again, this could be something that you could ask the Treasurer tomorrow. But I make this point—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because several people have made comments, via the media and directly to us, that they think that this will actually bring in a much larger revenue to state coffers than what is contained within the state budget. If this is the case, we commit here, in this parliament today, that we will accelerate the rate reduction.

The top rate in South Australia is way too high: 3.7 is completely uncompetitive. That's a fact. That was a situation that was presided over by the previous government, and I note that they didn't have the wherewithal to actually tackle this issue; they wanted to sweep it under the carpet. We do not want to do that. We want to deal with these two issues simultaneously—the aggregation issue, but also bringing down that top marginal rate. We have already included two separate rate reduction measures in the budget—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that was handed down just a few weeks ago. For those landowners who have a value of up to $5 million, on 1 July next year they will see that top marginal rate component go from 3.7 down to 2.9. There is a graduating reduction for those with a land value above $5 million, which starts on 1 July and takes place over a seven-year period. I would like to accelerate that. I have made no qualms about that issue; I would like to see that happen faster. If we can provide some assurance that there is going to be an increase over and above the $40 million that is envisaged and forecast within the state budget, then that's exactly and precisely what we will do.

The budget contains two key measures as of 1 July next year—one is a revenue increase of $40 million, and that is offset with a reduction in land tax receipts of $49.7 million. I don't know whether those opposite can do the arithmetic, but that shows, even in its first year, almost a $10 million reduction in the total land tax take, and that increases every year thereafter. All this information is provided within the budget. I am happy to point people towards the pages if they need some help.