Land Tax

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:43): My question is to the Treasurer. In relation to your land tax aggregation proposal, how does the government define 'mum-and-dad investors', and how many mum-and-dad investors are there, according to the government?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:44): I have used the term in the same fashion as the Property Council and some of the opponents have used. We have referred to it in the context of individuals. There are three ownership structures generally referred to: one is natural persons or individuals; the second one is companies; and the third one is trusts. I suspect the Property Council and others, when they have referred to mum-and-dad investors, have been sometimes referring to not only individuals—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: You said it nine times—what do you mean?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I just said: individuals—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: No, you're saying what the Property Council says; what do you mean?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I'm just saying the same thing: individuals or natural persons.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: So any natural person is a mum-and-dad investor, according to you.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Is this an interrogation?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, we have gone through this. A supplementary when seated is not within the standing orders. Treasurer, responses to questions without the call are also not approved under the standing orders. The Hon. Ms Bourke.