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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-07-04 Daily Xml
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State Major Bank Levy

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:47): My question is to the Treasurer. Which other businesses will the Treasurer attempt to tax next time he fails to balance his budget?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:47): Now that the Leader of the Opposition is not doing Wokinabox, it's doing quite well, but we won't be doing anything like that at all. If there are parts of the economy that are not paying their fair share of tax—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is on two warnings and he will not demean fish and chip shop owners.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Back to your usual stomping ground. Of course, if there are other parts of the economy that are not paying their fair share of tax compared to the rest of the economy, then we would look at it. We have been in office now for 16 years, and in 16 years we have a record that we are proud of. We have cut taxes on transactions and we have cut stamp duties. We are attempting to cut payroll tax. We have increased the tax-free threshold every year for land tax. We are cutting taxes. We have abolished the River Murray levy after the good work the Premier did by returning flows to the River Murray. We are lowering the tax burden on South Australia. We have lowered the return-to-work levies—the largest tax cut ever offered to South Australians.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: When it comes to taxation, the facts bear out something very different from what members opposite hope that people think. The truth is that we have cut more taxes than they ever have, and our 2015-16 budget was a dramatic piece of tax reform.

That budget and that tax reform process lay the foundations of this revenue measure because this Premier has been arguing and advocating to apply the appropriate level of taxation to the Australian banking industry because they are underpaying their taxes. The rest of the economy is paying their fair share of taxes. The banks are getting away with $4 billion a year—$4 billion a year—underpaying their taxes to the Australian public. And they found a friend, they found a new branch, they found someone they can rely on, lean on: the Leader of the Opposition.

I have to say, what kind of politician stops the government's budget measures and then hopes to win? What type of government does he hope to lead? What type of budgets does he hope to bring down? We're better at—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: debating the substance of the question, standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The member for Torrens.

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