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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-13 Daily Xml
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Taxation Reform

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): Supplementary: is the government committed to actually reducing the taxation burden on South Australian businesses and households?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:22): I think, necessarily, the review will have to consider the incidence of taxation on the activities which are productive and income creating. That is one of the principles I outlined before. So, the answer is yes, it will seek to reduce the burdens on those activities in the South Australian economy which are creative of production and which are creative of investment. The truth is we have a system at the moment which provides certain disincentives for those activities, and we need to review our system with a view to avoiding, as far as we possibly can, any taxation system which discourages that activity.

Of course, a taxation system is only one element of the objective that we laid out on Monday of this week, which was to make sure that South Australia is a great place to do business. It also depends on a whole range of other elements. The truth is our public investments also create an attractive business-cost environment. The fact that we have a city which is easy to navigate and get around is an element of the cost environment. So, the cost competitiveness of South Australia is related to the public investments we make; it is not simply about the taxation arrangements.

Our planning system can create a cost-competitive environment. The way in which our bureaucracy administers regulations creates a cost-competitive environment. The regulations themselves can create a cost-competitive environment. Just the general culture of the community and the way in which it is supportive of productive investment can make a positive cost-competitive environment.

We have got much to be proud of in certain sectors. We need to make sure this can be said of every sector. Oil and gas is a classic example. We have created a cost-competitive environment for investment in infrastructure. We have created a political environment which is permissive for investment in oil and infrastructure. I know there are those opposite who are taking steps which could jeopardise that environment that we have created—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Shame.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and we ask them to retreat—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order for shouting 'shame'.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —from that course. It is more than taxation, but certainly taxation has to be part of the equation.

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