Land Tax

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:38): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier believe that landowners facing aggregation measures for the first time have money to spare?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:38): Well, that is not something that I have the personal knowledge of—individuals, what their arrangements are and what money they have to spare. But I make this point to every South Australian: our motive for doing this is not revenue raising. Our motive—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It's almost impossible to believe—

Mr Boyer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Wright!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that those opposite cannot understand the basis of what is being put before them in the legislation. Maybe that—

The Hon. S.K. Knoll interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —gives us a hint as to why they haven't formed the position to back 92 per cent of South Australians—because they don't understand how it works.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: debate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my left, be quiet. The point of order is for debate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate and personal reflections again, sir.

The SPEAKER: Premier, the question had a few elements to it. I think when you start to reflect on what other members might know or not know you are probably starting to cross the line, so I ask you to come back to the substance of the question, please.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I indicated to the honourable member, I have no personal knowledge of the cash arrangements of the people he refers to and what money they may or may not have to spare. But I make this point again: our reform is all about getting our economy moving in the right direction, making South Australia a more attractive destination to attract and retain investment capital.

If there were more money coming into South Australia, or remaining in South Australia in terms of investment, then property values in South Australia would be higher. People would have greater assets in South Australia than they had in the previous 16 years when we had sluggish real property growth or values growth in South Australia. I do note that, since we came to government, the ANZ Property Council index shows that we have the highest forecast property growth in South Australia, and that is a factor of growing confidence in our state, growing confidence that there is a government in place that wants to reduce the tax burden on the people of South Australia.

Of course, with reform, not every single person is going to be a beneficiary, and individuals need to get their own advice as to how to structure their investments into South Australia. But in total—and I repeat this because not every person over there understands exactly and precisely what's going on—there are three reforms at the moment.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: the opposition was sitting quietly, listening to the Premier with courtesy, and again—

The SPEAKER: Yes, the point of order is for debate—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Personal reflection, sir, and debate.

The SPEAKER: —and personal reflection, yes. I again remind the Premier to come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I am happy to update this for the house's benefit, although I am pretty sure that people on my side know how it works, but that's a reflection on my side. They know exactly how it actually works.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left and right! Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. There are three—not one, not two, but three—reforms which we are effecting simultaneously.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The first is aggregation, and that brings us into line with other jurisdictions in this country and, quite frankly, other jurisdictions around the world. The second reform is the increase to the threshold, taking it from 391 to 450; 450 is larger than 391. The third is to bring the top marginal rate from 3.7 down—that's going down—to 2.4. When you bring those three things together, there is a reduction in tax. That means the tax that we are getting is lower. That means less tax.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That means more money in people's pockets. This is how it works. It's a little bit complicated, but I am happy to provide a further briefing to anybody who requires information on this. But let's be clear: this is a reform. There is some complexity, not a lot, but there is some complexity to this issue. But there are three reforms operating simultaneously—aggregation, higher thresholds, lower rates—and the net effect of that is a reduction in the revenue from land tax into South Australia, and that means $70 million going back into the South Australian economy and 92 per cent of individual investors will be better off.