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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-29 Daily Xml
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Parliamentary Committees

Economic and Finance Committee: Annual Report 2013-14

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (11:02): I move:

That the 86th report of the committee, entitled Annual Report 2013-14, be noted.

During the reporting period, the committee undertook a range of oversight activities in line with the committee's statutory functions and produced a number of lines of inquiry pertinent to the committee's area of interest. The committee also experienced a number of changes in membership, largely due to the new parliament, and therefore this report notes the work of both the sixth and seventh economic and finance committees during 2013-14.

The seventh committee was formed on 6 May 2014, so much of what I speak about today relates to the former committees' activities before my time as Chair. Throughout the reporting period, the committee met on 16 occasions, 12 of which were public hearings. During this period, the committee tabled its 2012-13 annual report, the South Australian taxation inquiry interim and final reports, and the emergency services levy 2014-15 report.

The South Australian taxation inquiry interim and final reports were tabled on 26 November 2013 and 14 February 2014 consecutively. The reports concluded a comprehensive inquiry which commenced in 2012. The inquiry delved into many aspects of the state's taxation system, and the committee received 36 written submissions from a broad range of stakeholders across industry, legal and business groups, state and local government bodies, as well as the community sector and individuals.

The committee established of broad set of terms of reference, and therefore the inquiry explored an expansive range of taxation issues. The committee considered evidence in relation to payroll tax, land tax, stamp and conveyance duties, motor vehicle taxes, insurance and gambling taxes, local government taxation, in addition to the broader issues of administration, compliance and sustainability.

In total, the committee made comment on 36 issues of significance and recommended to the Treasurer that he gives sound consideration to the matters raised. I commend my predecessor, the now happily retired Hon. Lyn Breuer, the former presiding member of the committee, and the honourable members for Colton, Davenport, Flinders, Goyder, Ramsay, and the retired former member for Torrens, Mrs Robyn Geraghty, for the significant work they did on this inquiry.

In terms of its statutory functions, the committee undertook a range of activities. In accordance with the requirements of the Gaming Machines Act 1992, the committee received a report from the Office of Recreation and Sport in March 2014 regarding the 2012-13 sport and recreation fund allocations. The committee invited representatives of the Office of Recreation and Sport to a hearing later in the year, on 3 July 2014, where we discussed matters relating to the allocation of financial assistance to sporting and recreation bodies. With respect to the Health and Community Services Complaints Act 2004, the committee received the proposed budget for the Health and Community Services Complaints Commission on 28 November 2013.

Under the provisions of the Passenger Transport Act 1994, the committee noted referrals received on 8 July 2013 regarding tenders for passenger transport services for the City of Murray Bridge, the Mid Murray Council, the Coorong District Council, the District Council of Karoonda, and Southern Mallee District Council. On 25 July 2013, a referral was received for Kangaroo Island passenger transport services. On 3 April 2014, two more referrals were received for the Upper North region and the City of Whyalla.

In accordance with the committee's statutory function regarding reporting on the proposed emergency services levy each financial year, the committee noted in its report that the total expenditure on emergency services for the 2014-15 year is projected to be $255.1 million.

In line with provisions in the Public Corporations Act 1993, the committee received notice of an amendment to the WorkCover charter in August 2013. The committee therefore held a hearing in November 2013 with WorkCover witnesses to learn more about the changes to the charter. On 28 November 2013, the committee conducted a hearing with witnesses from the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion to respond to questions regarding state government concessions and their administration. Continuing the committee's interest and responsibilities regarding public accountability, the Auditor-General was invited to appear before the committee on two separate occasions—in November and December 2013—to discuss matters in relation to the Auditor-General's Annual Report.

As the presiding member of the committee, I attended the mid-term conference of the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committee (ACPAC) in June this year. The conference was held in Melbourne and hosted by the Victorian parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. On behalf of our committee, I presented our proposed draft conference program to the ACPAC members as part of our hosting responsibilities for the 2015 ACPAC biennial conference. The program was well received by members and, as the presiding member of the host committee, I am now also the Chair of ACPAC. I am looking forward to hosting the conference in April next year with my colleagues on the Economic and Finance Committee as well as the Statutory Authorities Review Committee, who are also members of ACPAC.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge my fellow members of the current committee: the member for Colton, the sadly departing member for Davenport, the member for Kaurna, the member for Reynell, the member for Stuart and the member for Unley. Throughout the reporting period, the committee was ably supported by the executive officers, Mrs Lisa Baxter and Ms Susie Barber, and the research officer on the taxation inquiry, Mr Simon Altus. I commend the report to the house.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (11:08): I rise to speak on the Economic and Finance Committee's annual report and to make a couple of comments. As the house knows, I am exiting tomorrow. I am about to resign from this committee today so that someone else can be elected tomorrow, and I want to make these comments about the committee.

Firstly, I think it is disappointing that the government has taken the position of not using the Industries Development Committee to examine assistance given to companies within South Australia. That system was set up in the 1940s or 1950s, under the Playford government's Industries Development Act, and used by both sides of the house to inform the other side about long-term economic investment in the state, and it was always held confidential until the Labor opposition of the 1993 to 2002 period when, regrettably, some unusual items were leaked out.

Having been a minister who sent things to that committee, I think the committee serves a good purpose. It asked good questions and gave an opportunity for both sides of the house, including quite often the backbench of the government, to be informed on what the ministries were doing. With regard to industry assistance in the state, I think the state and, indeed, the parliament are poorer for the fact that this government has decided not to use the Industries Development Committee. You will see in the annual report to which we are speaking that it did not meet, and I do not think it has not met since about 2007.

The other issue is the issue of tax modelling. Bearing in mind this is a government controlled committee, the committee criticises the current Treasurer and previous treasurers (those who held the Treasury portfolio) for not providing tax modelling as requested by the committee. The committee undertook what I thought was an excellent review of the South Australian taxes. It was one of the most interesting committee inquiries I have sat on in my time, and it was acknowledged by the government in our discussions in the committee that they found it very useful.

The committee sought a series of tax modelling to try to inform the tax debate. In fairness to the government, they eventually provided some of the tax modelling, but there was a whole range of tax modelling that was not provided. The committee then wrote to then treasurer Weatherill, who did not provide it and said they were developing it, and the committee wrote again to the new treasurer Koutsantonis seeking that modelling. The committee has now been waiting, my guess would be, around 15 to 18 months for that modelling.

There is really no reason the government should not provide it because it would inform the public debate about what tax reform is required and, indeed, what is possible. When industry associations received the previous set of tax modelling that we distributed publicly, suddenly their ask for tax reform changed because they understood that what they were asking for was a $200 million hit to the budget, or a $100 million hit to the budget, or whatever the figure was.

They actually had a better understanding of the financial impact of what they were asking for, so the modelling actually informed the public debate. I think that the committee should hound the Treasurer to provide that modelling because it will inform the debate, both on the government side and the opposition side, and, certainly, from the industry perspective.

I have sat on the Economic and Finance Committee now for a number of years in various portfolio responsibilities. I do want to thank the Auditor-General for the manner in which he conducts his responses to the Economic and Finance Committee's grilling. He usually comes in for two days, quite happily, and takes our questions, and I have always enjoyed what I would call the game of tennis between the Auditor-General and the opposition. We ask a question, he bats it back; we ask another question and he bats it back and explains it. It does, I think, add a lot of value of the process having him come into that particular forum so the opposition can ask appropriate questions about what the Auditor-General's Report has stated.

I also thank all of the staff involved in that committee over the years for putting up with me. I am not the most computer literate person and they have carried me through all of those meetings. I have enjoyed my time on the committee and thank the staff for all their support. With that, I will now go and hand my letter of resignation from the committee to the Speaker so that someone can be elected tomorrow or today so that they are ready to question the Auditor-General in early November and the opposition is not one short.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.

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