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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-04-06 Daily Xml
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MOTOR VEHICLE STAMP DUTY

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about motor vehicle stamp duty.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Reported in the official magazine of the Motor Trade Association March/April edition, the executive director, Mr John Chapman, stated that they will pursue the issue of stamp duty disparity between the states. Our rates on vehicles are among the highest in the nation. When a consumer buys a new car in South Australia they will be paying more stamp duty than anywhere else in the country. This could result in people holding on to cars for longer periods or buying used cars.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics motor vehicle census data has shown that vehicle sales trends in South Australia have dropped by 2.9 per cent in the last 12 months, falling faster than the national average of 1.5 per cent. The ABS also highlighted that South Australia's growth in fleet size between 31 March 2005 and 31 March 2010 of 11.5 per cent was the smallest in the nation. Additionally, South Australia is the worst mainland state, having the oldest fleet, with an average age of 11.1 years. My questions are:

1. How will the government address the issue of stamp duty disparity raised by the MTA to ensure the South Australian motor retail trade remains nationally competitive?

2. With South Australia being the worst mainland state, having the oldest fleet and a continuing slump in motor vehicle sales, when will the government implement tax reform and less red tape to take pressure off consumers and businesses?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (15:18): The matter of stamp duties and tax reform is obviously the responsibility of the Treasurer, so I am happy to refer those questions to that relevant minister and bring back a response. In relation, however, to just some general questions about our motor vehicle pool and the age of cars here in South Australia, I am very much aware of some of the pressures that have been on motor vehicle sales of late. They particularly relate to the fact that we are coming out of a global economic crisis, and that has certainly slowed down spending on motor vehicles.

That has had an impact and we are probably still seeing the tail end of that and, of course, the price of petrol has also had a fairly significant impact on the purchase of vehicles. In terms of the age of vehicles, we see that some other states have certain legislative requirements around vehicles and the timing and the frequency of roadworthy certificates. In South Australia, we have wrestled with the tensions associated with considering policy around this for many years. We know that where we put increased regulatory and licensing burdens in place it results in increased costs in relation to motor vehicles and, generally, an increase in the cost of living.

We know that it is often families on low incomes who have second-hand vehicles that are quite old, and we know that if we shift our efforts and increase the burden that would mean a percentage of those people would not be able to afford motor vehicles and would have to do without them. That affects people's quality of life, as well as their ability to participate in employment, schooling and a whole range of other activities. It could have a significant impact on the life of families.

These are matters that we have considered. As I said, I realise that there are tensions between looking at the regulatory burden to increase how modern vehicles might be versus the age of vehicles and safety around that, as well as cost of living and lifestyle tensions. We believe we have got it right. They are vexed issues, but we believe we have got the balance right in terms of trying to ensure that as many families as possible have access to motor vehicles when they need them, yet also ensuring they are safe in terms of the standard of their vehicle.

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