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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-05 Daily Xml
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Office of the Valuer-General

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. J.A. Darley:

1. That a select committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire into and report on—

(a) the scope of operations of the Office of the Valuer-General in respect of state government and local government valuations for property taxation purposes;

(b) the scope of operations of the Valuer-General in respect of valuations for stamp duty, acquisition, disposal and other purposes required by government;

(c) the extent of compliance by the Valuer-General in respect of the Valuation of Land Act 1971 (SA);

(d) the extent of knowledge required by the Valuer-General to satisfy the legislative requirements of the various rating authorities;

(e) the standard of policy formulation and direction by the Valuer-General provided to Land Services SA to satisfy their contractual obligations with the SA government;

(f) the relationship between the Valuer-General’s revaluation initiative of all properties in South Australia as announced in the 2016-17 state budget and the general valuation of all properties in the state which occurs each year;

(g) the effectiveness of the decision to privatise the valuation services of the state from 2016-17 including productivity gains/losses as a result of the privatisation;

(h) the efficiency in the process of objections to valuations and appeals to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal; and

(i) any other relevant matter.

2. That standing order 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only.

3. That during the period of any declaration of a major emergency made under section 23 of the Emergency Management Act 2004 or any declaration of a public health emergency made under section 87 of the South Australian Public Health Act 2011, members of the committee may participate in the proceedings by way of telephone or video conference or other electronic means and shall be deemed to be present and counted for purposes of a quorum, subject to such means of participation remaining effective and not disadvantaging any member.

4. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

5. That standing order 396 be suspended to enable strangers to be admitted when the select committee is examining witnesses unless the committee otherwise resolves, but they shall be excluded when the committee is deliberating.

(Continued from 17 March 2021.)

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (16:45): I will be very brief on this motion. I can confirm that the opposition will be supporting the formation of this committee. I think it is evident to everyone in here, from the many questions asked, that the Hon. John Darley does not just have a great wealth of knowledge, particularly from past positions he has held in the state public sector, about issues to do with valuations but still has a burning interest in representing the people of South Australia on issues that affect them about valuations.

This also finds effect for those who serve on the Budget and Finance Committee of this chamber. I think it is fair to say that it is a great passion of John Darley's to make sure things are being done properly. We will be wholeheartedly supporting the establishment of this committee to look into the operation of the Office of the Valuer-General and to make such recommendations in relation to that. I might at this juncture move an amendment to the motion, if I may. I move:

Leave out paragraph 2 and insert new paragraph as follows:

2. That the committee consist of four members and that the quorum of members necessary to be present at all meetings of the committee be fixed at two members and that standing order 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:47): I rise on behalf of government members to speak to the motion. The government's party room position is that it will not oppose the motion. We understand there are the numbers in the chamber to support the passage of the establishment of yet another select committee. In the brief discussions that I have had with the honourable member this afternoon, I understand there has been some discussion with the Hon. Mr Darley about interpretation of a number of the subparagraphs.

The government had raised the prospect of an amendment to subparagraph (b), but the member had indicated that he was not prepared to support that particular amendment. In relation to subparagraph (d), whilst I am not moving an amendment this afternoon, I think the honourable member's interpretation of this particular provision is the same as the government's position, that is, it currently reads 'the extent of knowledge required by the Valuer-General to satisfy the legislative requirements of the various rating authorities'.

The government proposed adding the words 'as it relates to their taxing statutes'. Whilst we are not formally moving the amendment at the moment, in the discussions I have had with the Hon. Mr Darley he does not disagree that that is a reasonable interpretation of the provisions of subparagraph (d) of the proposed terms of reference.

I acknowledge the Hon. Mr Darley's ongoing interest in the operations of the Office of the Valuer-General. He has been pursuing a particular issue in relation to retirement villages, which we made a commitment on. The Office of the Valuer-General continues to assure the Attorney-General that they will meet all the requirements of the office by the required time, which is 30 June, which is just under two months away. The honourable member has a strong view that that will not be met. I guess we will know by 30 June whether it is or it is not.

The honourable member, I understand from discussions I have had with him, also has strong disagreement with the policy position that was outlined and placed on the website, I think, on 31 March. As I understand it, we will have the opportunity to pursue his view of that particular policy position with the Office of the Valuer-General during the operations of the select committee.

Suffice to say that, whilst the government understands and on some of the occasions has agreed with some of the criticisms the member has made of the office, there are other times where we do not agree with some of the views the Hon. Mr Darley has expressed about the operations of the Valuer-General.

This particular committee, now that it is going to be established, will give the honourable member and indeed other members who serve on the committee the opportunity to establish the facts of the operations of the office and be in a position to, I guess, either come to a united view or maybe a differing view as to recommendations that might come from the proceedings of the committee.

As I said, I am assuming it is unlikely the committee will have concluded its view by 30 June. Certainly, in relation to the issue of retirement villages, the committee, as indeed will all of us, will know whether the undertakings the Valuer-General has given in terms of being able to deliver what is going to be required for the rating of retirement villages will or will not be delivered by 30 June.

In conclusion, as I said, the government's position is that, given the committee is going to be established, it is not going to oppose the establishment of the committee.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:51): We will be supporting the motion.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (16:52): First of all, I would like to thank the Leader of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition for their contributions. In terms of some of the comments made by the Leader of the Government, I might add that my concerns about the Valuer-General's operations are not inconsistent with those of the private sector consortium Land Services SA. With that, I will be supporting the opposition's amendment, and I urge all honourable members to support the motion.

Amendment carried; motion as amended carried.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (16:55): I move:

That the committee consist of the Hon. Ian Hunter, the Hon. Frank Pangallo, the Hon. Terry Stephens and the mover of the motion.

Motion carried.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: I move:

That the committee have power to send for persons, papers and records, to adjourn from place to place and to report on 25 August 2021.

Motion carried.

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