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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-08 Daily Xml
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CARBON TAX

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:49): My question is again to the Premier. Why does the Premier support the carbon tax, given that he has admitted that he doesn't know the impact on the state budget, and neither he nor minister Koutsantonis could tell us what would be the impact on households?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order, Madam Speaker. It is a disorderly question. The Leader of the Opposition is making comment.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: The Leader of the Opposition has engaged in comment in the question, contrary to standing order 97, and it would be nice if we could have some orderly questions.

The SPEAKER: I will uphold that point of order. I ask the leader to be very careful about the wording of her questions, and to relook at her question and ask it in an orderly way.

Mrs REDMOND: Thank you, Madam Speaker, I will do that. My question again is to the Premier. Could the Premier please explain to the house on what basis he says he supports the carbon tax? In the second question today, I asked the Premier what his budget impact would be, and he was unable to tell us. In the third question today, I asked the Premier what the impact on household budgets would be, and he was again unable to tell us, and he got minister Koutsantonis to answer it, and he didn't provide an answer, in spite of the Premier.

The SPEAKER: Now you are getting into debate. Thank you; we don't need any more of your explanation.

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order, Madam Speaker. Again, I refer to standing order 97: factual explanation is allowed for the leader of the house; a debate is not allowed.

The SPEAKER: Thank you; I had already commented on that point of order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for her question. She asked why I support the carbon tax. Well, it is self evident from the first answer I gave; that is, it is an absolutely essential reform if we are to grapple with one of the—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —great public policy issues facing our nation and, indeed, our planet. But, to go to more specific issues, I am advised that the average expected cost of living impact will be 0.7 per cent in 2012-13, or $9.90 per week. Households will receive a combination of increased payments or tax cuts worth $10.10 per week.

Mrs Redmond: That 's the nonsense put out by the feds.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition, you are warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: You asked for the information; I am supplying you the information; now you don't want the information. Nine out of 10, that is around 8 million households in the country, expect to receive assistance. For two out of three households, this will be sufficient to cover the entire average price impact—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —for example, a single pensioner will receive a pension increase of $338 per annum compared with the cost of living increase of $204 per annum. A family with two teenagers where each parent earns $50,000 receives $679 per annum from tax cuts and increased family tax benefits compared with the cost of living impact of $653 per annum. Those are the household effects. As I said before, the effects in relation to the state government agencies will be dealt with in the Mid-Year Budget Review.

I think anybody who has followed this debate, and has looked at the various reports that have been presented by Prof. Garnaut, understands that, whatever the costs of adjustment now, they are larger the longer we wait. So, it is welcome news that this has now passed the federal parliament and we can begin to make the adjustments that are necessary. There is a first mover advantage for this state which we have already sought to exploit, and we will embrace this change and use it to transform our economy in a way that will strengthen us for the future.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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