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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-05-06 Daily Xml
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Federal Funding

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:39): I join the Hon. Mr Gazzola in passing on my condolences to the friends and acquaintances of David 'Daisy' Day. Many of us who followed contemporary music throughout the decades have listened to and enjoyed his career and contributions over many, many years. I had the good fortune, on a limited number of occasions, of meeting him and, as I said, I express my condolences to his family, friends and acquaintances.

I want to address quickly two issues today. One is obviously the vexed issue of federal state funding. As members would be aware, the South Australian Liberal Party has been on the record since before the last state election opposing various federal government decisions in terms of funding cuts in a number of areas.

What I do want to place on the record now is some good news in relation to federal funding for South Australia, which of course the state government has not wished to advertise or publicise. At the recent COAG, the decisions that were taken by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in rejecting the push from Western Australia and some other jurisdictions has meant that South Australia's favoured position in relation to GST funding continues for 2015-16. That is, in 2015-16, we (South Australia) will receive $571 million more in GST funding than we received in 2014-15.

So, in one single year there will be more than a half a billion dollar increase in GST funding to South Australia because the existing arrangements have been continued. That is an issue that the state government and the state Liberal Party were as one on; that is, we continue to support the policy of horizontal fiscal equalisation, which gives favoured status to South Australia in terms of GST funding allocations.

The importance of that $571 million figure is that last year in the budget papers, Treasurer Koutsantonis and Treasury estimated that we would see an increase of $359 million in 2015-16. They were still expecting an increase of GST funding, but at the level of $359 million. By the time of the Mid-Year Budget Review in December of last year, Treasury estimated that we would see an increase in GST funding of $425 million.

The COAG decision has now seen the final determination that we will actually see an increase of $571 million just in that one year. What that shows is that South Australia will now receive an unbudgeted windfall for next year, for one year alone, of $146 million. It is not in the budget papers, it is not in the Mid-Year Budget Review, but it was announced by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer at the COAG. South Australia will now have the benefit of an extra $146 million of unbudgeted expenditure to spend in 2015-16.

This is significant. The massive slug to the ESL, which was imposed last year, is about $90 million and the cruel and heartless threat to remove pensioner concessions by Treasurer Koutsantonis and Premier Weatherill equates to approximately $30 million. Both of those decisions are more than compensated now by the windfall profit of the GST for next year.

So, for those members in the caucus who want to support the Liberal Party in protecting pensioners, the GST not only more than covers the pensioner concessions, but also allows the reversal of the massive slug of the ESL on family homes. It is also enough money for those hardy campaigners on the steps of Parliament House to reverse the government's decision on the closure of the Repat. There is an unbudgeted $146 million windfall as a result of the COAG decision, more than enough to meet the expenditure on those three expenditure items.

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