Payroll Tax

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:44): My question is again to the Premier. Will the government provide payroll tax relief to South Australian businesses in the upcoming state budget? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr COWDREY: The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has recently indicated that the latest Fair Work Commission determination will impact restaurants, cafes and retailers the hardest because wages can comprise nearly half of their total expenses. A small business owner from North Adelaide said over the weekend that the current financial climate, rising costs of running the business and the increased utility expenses have made it impossible to continue trading.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:44): Let me say from the outset that this government supports the increased pay rise to minimum wage workers in the state of South Australia. While the shadow treasurer has fitted right into the glove of arch old conservatives arguing against our lowest paid workers getting a wage rise, we won't.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order by the member for Morialta.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: by characterising the shadow treasurer for asking the question that way, the Premier is debating.

The SPEAKER: I will ask the Premier to continue his answer and maybe just check a few things.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: When we contemplate our tax settings around payroll, naturally the government is looking at wages policy more broadly. Let me say in respect of wages policy more broadly that this government supports a pay rise for the lowest paid workers in our economy. Let me be perfectly clear about that. Now, I would like to hear a degree of bipartisanship about what I think is a pretty obvious position to take, but in the absence of that bipartisanship we can say with a degree of confidence that those opposite don't support a wage rise for the lowest paid workers in the economy, which I think represents an interesting point of compare and contrast.

In respect of tax policy, it is also a subject on which there is a great degree of divergence between those opposite and ourselves, because this government differs from the former Liberal government in that we are not retrospectively jacking up taxes on people we promised we wouldn't do it to. We are not doing that. We saw what those opposite did with land tax—retrospective land taxes being introduced on people who were only trying to play by the rules. We saw the consequences of those policies, and this government made a very clear commitment in the lead-up to the last state election that we have honoured in full and will continue to honour that we are not going to introduce new taxes or increase those taxes that exist. We won't be doing that.

Our tax policy is clear. The Treasurer has honoured that policy throughout the course of our first two budgets and I wouldn't anticipate to see surprises in the future.