Land Tax

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:29): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the aggregation of land tax pose a significant level of risk to South Australia's investment environment, property owners, tenants and consumers, as claimed by the Property Council?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:29): The government's view is that, no, that's not the case, because in particular these particular provisions already exist in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. What is a threat is the previous Labor government regime of an uncompetitive 3.7 per cent land tax. That was already impacting on investment in South Australia, and property owners were saying to the then Leader of the Opposition and myself as shadow treasurer that they were refusing to invest in South Australia because our land tax regime was uncompetitive. It was 3.7 per cent at the top rate. They wanted us to commit to a reduction of the 3.7 per cent.

So, no, it is certainly not the government's view that this will have the sort of impact that is being predicted on the state economy by the Property Council and some others.