Question Time

Land Tax

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier have any credibility when it comes to land tax, considering he has had five positions in less than 12 months?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir: that question didn't conform to any part of 97 and also refers to a bill that is on the Notice Paper.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: A further point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: A point of order on the point of order.

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: Are you challenging the leader?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No. Sir, you have ruled, as has former Speaker Atkinson, that matters of public interest that don't canvass the merit of individual clauses in the bill are within the realm for this house to consider to ministers. I would ask that you uphold your previous rulings.

The SPEAKER: What I will say is that where a question, the way I took it, almost contained something almost like an accusation or an inference, I have allowed it in an instance where, if I have allowed the question, I have allowed the answer. But, I'll tell you what: I am not going to be taking any points of order on debate, so I am going to take the question and I am going to allow the Premier an opportunity to respond, to be consistent with my former rulings.

We are only going to be allowing these sorts of questions to a limit, so I am going to allow the Leader of the Opposition to ask his question, and then I am going to give the Premier great scope to answer it. Leader, repeat it, please.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier have any credibility when it comes to land tax, considering he continues to chop and change his position, including having five different positions in the last 12 months?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:11): When I look across this chamber at the moment, I see the weakest opposition leader in the history of this state. Somebody—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —who has not a single fibre of a backbone. Somebody who wouldn't know reform if he fell over it. And who's standing alongside—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Who's standing alongside this weak, gutless Leader of the Opposition? His friend the member for West Torrens, in the shadows, holding his hand, putting him up for it. The reality is that this opposition has no credibility whatsoever when it comes to reform, and that is desperately what the people of South Australia need at the moment: a reformist government. They weren't content with holding South Australia back for 16 years when they were in government. For 16 years, that lot held back our state, and now not content—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with putting the handbrake on South Australia for 16 long years, they want to put the handbrake on South Australia from opposition. They want to basically vacillate between being 'new Labor' and trying to somehow defend the indefensible: their hopeless maladministration for 16 years—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! You asked the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when they sat on their hands and presided over the highest taxed jurisdiction in the country—3.7 per cent—driving money out of South Australia, repelling money out of our state. By contrast, what we've done on this side of the house is put the people of South Australia first—put the people of South Australia first—rather than continuing to play grubby politics. But that is all they know. That is all they know. When they lost the election—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when they were thrown out of government by the people of South Australia, they said, 'We are going to go and listen. We're going to listen to the people of South Australia.' They haven't listened at all. They have never put the people of South Australia first. When presented with a choice—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —between the people of South Australia and grubby politics, it's like a piece of grubby old metal drawn to the magnet of grubby politics, which will never advantage our state. By contrast—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: By contrast, we now have a government in place in South Australia who is putting the people of South Australia first. We have never said on this side of the chamber that reform is easy but, let me tell you, it's necessary.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: If those opposite genuinely believed, as they did—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —for 16 years, that we should have the top marginal rate in South Australia at 3.7 per cent—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —if they genuinely believed that, then they're even more disingenuous than I thought. The reality is that it's time for reform in South Australia. It's time to actually put the people of South Australia first and that's exactly and precisely what we will do on this side of the chamber.

The SPEAKER: I trust that was therapeutic for members. I now ask for the temperature to reduce. I remind members that the standing orders do exist to keep members on the straight and narrow. Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I call the following members to order: the leader, the member for Badcoe, the member for Cheltenham, the member for Playford, the member for West Torrens, the member for Lee and the member for Waite.