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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-13 Daily Xml
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TAXATION

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): Thank God that's over, sir; I was having trouble working my way through it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: It's always entertaining listening to the minister for stuff-ups.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: No one can stuff it up—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: —like the minister for stuff-ups.

The SPEAKER: The leader will come to order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Right-oh, sir—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport will come to order!

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Attorney will come to order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: We will pull ourselves together over here. Calmed down now, Pat? I can go ahead? I have a question—

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will get on with it.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader will ask his question.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Will the Treasurer rule out introducing new taxes, fees or levies, or increasing rates on existing taxes, fees or levies above CPI for the remainder of this government's term? On 29 September 2008, when asked whether he would be increasing taxes the Treasurer said publicly, 'I have not said anything about increasing taxes.' He added: 'This is not a problem that can be or needs to be resolved through increasing taxes.' In Tuesday's mini budget, the New South Wales government introduced $3.2 billion worth of new revenue measures, including a new land tax and a city congestion levy.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:38): I am trying to put my hands on it. I do not appear to have it, unfortunately. Yes, I do. Is this the one I'm after?

Ms Chapman: The question is: do you rule out new taxes?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, I do rule out new taxes. We heard the Leader of the Opposition on radio just a week ago blaming me for not being like John Howard and Peter Costello and saying that I should have had bigger surpluses. Although, to have had a surplus big enough to have withstood the recent meltdown in the financial markets, I would have been running $1 billion-plus surpluses. I tell you what, if I was running $1 billion-plus surpluses, I think I would be under a bit of pressure from everyone on my front bench, and the back bench—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: And theirs.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: And particularly from that side. How many times have we been criticised by those opposite for not spending enough? What else did Martin Hamilton-Smith say on that day? In the report that I read he said that the government should have cut taxes more—more than the billions in taxes that we have already cut—and then he said that he would now have the ability to raise taxes to deal with the current financial crisis.

This guy walks both sides of the street. He said on radio that we should have cut taxes more aggressively so that we have the capacity to raise taxes to deal with this financial crisis. You will say anything at any time that comes into your head, and we have it all recorded. The Leader of the Opposition has no consistency in message, and each and every one of those front bench members know it. Have a look at their faces. They know they have a leader who is neither competent nor capable of engaging in a debate on the matters relating to the economy and finances. No, we will not be bringing in new taxes. We will not be dealing with the financial crisis as New South Wales has done by putting new charges in place. I will certainly not do what the leader advocated, that is, to increase those taxes that we have already cut.

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