Land Tax

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer regarding land tax.

Leave granted.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: Yesterday, in the other place, the Premier was asked whether the Hon. Rob Lucas would remain as Treasurer until the next election. The Premier responded, and I quote:

I'm not in the habit of speculating regarding what will happen in the cabinet. In the fullness of time, we will make it clear exactly and precisely what we will be doing.

The failure to endorse the under-pressure Treasurer comes at a time when the Marshall Liberal government's land tax policy is ripping the Liberal Party apart. My questions to the Treasurer are:

1. When did the Treasurer offer his resignation to the Premier?

2. Can the Treasurer name a single business that supports the Marshall Liberal government's land tax policy?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:35): A nice touch of alliteration there, I thought—the 'under-pressure Treasurer'. I congratulate the honourable member for her use of phrase. As members can tell, I am under significant pressure. I see it every day in question time. I am relentlessly beaten around the head by a merciless opposition, led by the leader and indeed the other frontbenchers. I come into this chamber cowering at every opportunity, fearing what might happen to me during question time.

The Premier answered the question as indeed he should have answered the question. He will not and does not speculate publicly about the position of his cabinet colleagues. As he has publicly opined during question time, he was a bit fearful that I would live beyond 30 June because of my high sugar diet, and he is probably being very cautious in relation to my longevity as to whether indeed I could even live to 2022, let alone complete my task of another couple of budgets as well.

The Premier responded as he should have in relation to silly questions like that. We in the Liberal Party serve at the discretion of the leader of the government of the day, the Premier. For so long as he believes in the job that we do, we will continue to serve. If at any stage he makes an alternative decision, we willingly comply with the wishes and decisions of our leader, in this case the Premier.