Question Time

Land Tax

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is to the Treasurer in relation to land tax. What is the rort that the government's land tax aggregation measure aims to stop, and who are these rorters?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:24): That's not language that I have used as Treasurer, or indeed the government uses in relation to the proposed changes to aggregation provisions. Put simply, the proposed changes that the government is seeking to address include and impart, as outlined, I think, in the budget speech, a set of circumstances in South Australia that is not permitted in New South Wales, Victoria or Queensland, where I as an individual could own next year seven separate properties valued at $400,000 each, that is, I could own $2.8 million worth of properties—that's the site value, not the total property value—and not pay a single dollar in land tax.