House of Assembly Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1) 54 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Land Tax Land Tax Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Leader of the Opposition Land Tax Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier agree with South Australia's largest private employer that his land tax policy will not improve investment in South Australia, is not going to improve certainty of our economy and is definitely not going to reverse the hoards of capital leaving our state? The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER House of Assembly The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order: the question fails at the same hurdle that the first question failed. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. I respect the Minister for Education's point of order. Obviously, a member should not be offering argument or opinion in a question, and the way to insert facts is by leave of the house, given what is obviously the status quo in this place. I am going to allow the Premier an opportunity to answer. Can we have the question again? Mr MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Mr MALINAUSKAS: My question is obviously to the Premier. Does the Premier agree with South Australia's largest private employer that his land tax policy will not improve investment in South Australia, is not going to improve certainty of our economy and is definitely not going to reverse the hoards of capital leaving our state? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I'm going to give the Premier great latitude because there is a lot in that question. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Premier The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:08): I think this gives us an opportunity to again outline to this house exactly and precisely why we are up for reform in South Australia. We are making it really, really clear that at 3.7 per cent— The Hon. S.C. Mullighan House of Assembly The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Tell us about the tax increase. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we are driving capital out of this state because capital flows to where the most attractive environment exists. That is a fundamental of economics, and at the moment, with an annual land tax rate of 3.7 per cent— Mr Malinauskas interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order, leader! We have the question. I would like to hear the answer. The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned. The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL House of Assembly The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: With an annual land tax rate of 3.7 per cent, we are driving capital out of this state into other jurisdictions that have very obviously lower land tax rates than we have in South Australia, and to make matters worse, we're— Ms Stinson interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is called to order. The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell House of Assembly The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: He has finished. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order. Leader.