Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-09-10 Daily Xml

Contents

Land Tax

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): Further supplementary arising from the original answer: if the Treasurer believes he has got it so right, and it is so fair this time, why is it that all of the representative bodies are lining up to continue their attacks?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:39): It is up to the representative bodies to indicate their position, but a number of the representative bodies, such as the MBA and Business SA, have welcomed key elements of the package that has been announced. They have indicated that they want to have a look at the detail in relation to aggregation, but a significant number of the people who have contacted both me and individual members of the Liberal parliamentary party room, having looked at the new package, have now said to members and to me, 'We support the new package as a reasonable package.' If the government is going to have aggregation it had to do it on the basis of reducing the top rate so that we were more competitive nationally.

At 2.4 per cent we are at the national average of all mainland states. Western Australia is at 2.67; Queensland at 2.75; Victoria at 2.25; and New South Wales at 2. The average is 2.4, and the Marshall Liberal government's reform package is pitching at 2.4 per cent—exactly the same as the national average for all mainland states in Australia.