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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-05-13 Daily Xml
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Tax Increases

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier stand by his election promise that Labor would introduce no new taxes and no tax increases? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: In the last state budget the government announced that an increase of 3.5 per cent above CPI would be applied to all South Australian households and small businesses for water bills, costing the average household an extra $85 and the average business around $350.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:20): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question because it allows us to highlight the very thoughtful and measured approach this government has taken towards reform, including fiscal policy. What we saw in the previous term of government, prior to this one, was the former Marshall Liberal government committing to tax reductions on the one hand and then simultaneously creating or jacking up whole new taxes on the other hand.

We all remember the bin tax, we all remember the land tax changes, we all remember retrospectively chasing revenue because they did not have a serious tax policy. We made a commitment, we have stuck to that commitment—in fact, we have gone beyond that, Mr Speaker. Rather than introducing new taxes or increasing taxes we have actually cut them. We have cut taxes, and we have done it in a very deliberate way. We have abolished stamp duty for all new builds for first-home buyers in South Australia, and we have rolled out that policy in two iterations. In the first instance, in the budget before last, it was a tax measure that the Treasurer announced that had a ceiling on it, and in the last budget we abolished it altogether.

If you're a first-home buyer in South Australia and you build a new home, you pay zero stamp duty. That is the abolition of a tax with a very surgical focus on trying to stimulate the economic activity we are after. It's not a tax cut just for the sake of one, it's a tax cut with the explicit purpose of generating new stock into the system. You cannot tackle the housing crisis without a policy for more supply. It is only through more supply that will make a material difference in this regard, and that's why the tax reform that we have introduced is a tax reduction to stimulate a very particular activity. We know it is making a difference, it is making a difference for those people who deserve it most, and that is young South Australians who want the opportunity for home ownership.

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