Land Tax

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:37): Further supplementary: do you agree with the Premier's comments claiming land tax will go down by $9.7 million when the government's own budget papers reveal that land tax is going up?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:38): I always agree with the Premier, and the Premier is, in fact, right. The opposition—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: It goes up each year in the budget papers.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: No, it doesn't. As a result of the land tax reform package in last year's budget paper, the increase in the threshold and the reduction in the top land tax rate reduces land tax collections by $47 million or $48 million. There is another $2 million or so listed for 2020-21 as part of this package and then there is a collection of $40 million from the aggregation provisions. If you subtract $40 million from the $49.7 million or so, there is a $9.7 million reduction. That actually increases; that is, the reduction in the total land tax collected by 2022-23 is around about or just under $20 million a year less being collected in land tax as a result of the government's land tax reform package. The answer to the question is the Premier, as always, is right.