Ms MARTIN - 2000-03-01
We understand why the Chief Minister is the GST’s number one fan. This tax takes money out of the pockets of Territorians and puts it in government coffers. Isn’t it the case that this government has done no modelling at all on the impact of the GST on Territorians? How do you justify signing up to the GST fan club without instructing Treasury, or your Treasurer, to do any modelling of the impact of the GST on Territorians? Without modelling, isn’t it true that you don’t know the impact of your GST on Territorians, and this Chief Minister doesn’t care?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition shows abject ignorance of how the government does business. Do you seriously suggest that the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, the Under-Treasurer and other staff, travel off to Canberra. Before I can go to Canberra there are endless meetings that are conducted in relation to the new tax system agreement. Endless meetings were conducted by under treasurers and senior Treasury staff – in not only the Northern Territory but all states of Australia – to ensure that what was being offered by the Commonwealth government was something that we could, firstly, understand, and secondly, that we saw benefit from, before we were going to enter into it. That is just plain common sense.
To suggest that the Territory has done no modelling is also wrong. Extensive modelling was done by the Commonwealth, extensive modelling was done by the Northern Territory, and the discussions and negotiations were all around how the new tax system would impact on the Northern Territory as it would impact on other states of Australia.
The point that the Leader of the Opposition also fails to mention when she talks about the Northern Territory is the fact that I and the Treasurer sat with her Labor colleagues through the Premiers Conference, where we reached the final negotiations for the new tax system for Australia which led to all of us signing. If you had have been there, you would have been absolutely surprised at the absolute exuberance of her Labor colleagues in signing up to the new tax system, and the glee with which they went back to their own jurisdictions knowing that they had a damn good deal on behalf of their own constituents. That is the fact of it. And, frankly, if you ever see the photo when we went to the press conference at the end of it, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory couldn’t even get close to the Prime Minister because Beattie on one side and Carr on the other were shoving everyone out of the way so they could get as close to the Prime Minister as possible and claim as much credit as possible for this particular initiative.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The Chief Minister said he had done modelling for the Territory. Will he release that public paper?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is a second question. It is not a point of order.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I say again, to suggest that the Northern Territory would have entered into the new tax system for Australia, as did every other state in Australia, without knowing what we were doing, just shows their abject ignorance of the knowledge and experience of Treasury officials and treasurers and chief ministers and premiers from all around Australia.
I fail to understand why the Labor Party in the Northern Territory is trying to run a campaign to suggest to Territorians that the new tax system for Australia is wrong. I just don’t understand it, because what they are saying to Territorians is that Australia should stay with countries like Botswana and Swaziland, in terms of how we deal in the global economy and how we apply taxation across the country.
There was a classic interview on the Sunday program last Sunday immediately before my interview where the Labour, I emphasise, Labour leader of New Zealand when questioned on the GST, very quickly dismissed the whole issue. She said that New Zealanders were quite happy with and it simply was not an issue for New Zealanders.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Tell us what roll back would entail. Go out and tell Territorians..
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: That is all you ever get. You go and tell Territorians what roll back is all about. Go and tell Territorians that, firstly, you have got to stay with the GST because you believe in the GST. Go and tell them that - that is the first thing. Then go and tell Territorians how much you are going to roll the GST back. Simple questions. Is it 5%? If it is 5%, you do your modelling and tell us how you are going to pay for it. Come up with one policy.
The simple facts of the new tax system are these. Australia has lived in a house called the taxation house for many years, and that house is old and that house is falling down, and that house is totally unsuitable. What we are doing in Australia is renovating. We have decided the house is no good. If we are going to enjoy life in the future, we’ve got to fix the house up. What we are doing at the moment is knocking down walls, and we are extending the kitchen and we have fixed up the bathroom, and we got the tarpaulins up and we are halfway through the renovations.
I can understand the concern of the average Australian and the average Territorian as to where this new tax system is going and where it is leading us, because we are halfway through the renovations, it’s the wet season, the tarp is up, the bathroom’s knocked out, we are halfway there and we are saying: ‘Why the hell did we ever get into this renovation business?’.
But when Australians get in the new house, when Australians look back and they see the new kitchen and they see the new bathroom and they see the ensuite, like your Labour Leader in New Zealand you will say: ‘Thank God we did it, because we had to do it and we had to make a change’.
The worst thing about the Labor Party approach is, firstly, they believe in the GST, and they know it’s good for Australia. I know your Labor leader mates down in all the other states believe in the GST. They know it’s good for Australia, they know it’s good for their own constituency. They also know there are ups and downs, but they know that the guarantees that have been given will be delivered.
I can tell you that this Chief Minister in the Northern Territory will hold the Prime Minister to the promises he made to Australians and Territorians at the last election, and I’ve already made phone calls to him in that regard. He promised Territorians and Australians that 85% will have a marginal tax rate of 30%, 30 in $1 or less, and he has to deliver on that, for people who earn $50 000 or less. He has to deliver on the excise duties on fuel, he has to deliver on an average of almost $50 a week in everyone’s pay packet, and he has to deliver on what is a broad-based tax system for Australia.
The only thing that has occurred, which frankly disappoints me, is the deal that was done with the Democrats, with pressure by the Labor Party, that put cracks in the tax system, on the food. And again, the Labor Prime Minister of New Zealand pointed to that as a wrong move at the outset.
I can assure Territorians that this Chief Minister will be watching the new tax system and how it is delivered to Australia. And if there is, as I believe, a great benefit to the Northern Territory Treasury coffers, we as a government will be ensuring that we deliver to Territorians benefit in areas like payroll tax and other areas, as soon as we can. We want to make sure that those benefits are delivered to Territorians.
I just say in passing to the member for Wanguri, that this tax rate of $232 in a gross of $640 is too high. There’s something wrong. I’m going to check this guy out again because, frankly, I believe it’s quite wrong the way he continually comes into this House and attempts to mislead with the statements he makes and the way he draws gross generalisations. I put you on notice. I’ll check this one out and we’ll just find out what the real situation is for a person who earns $640 a week and has a gross tax rate of $232.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition shows abject ignorance of how the government does business. Do you seriously suggest that the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, the Under-Treasurer and other staff, travel off to Canberra. Before I can go to Canberra there are endless meetings that are conducted in relation to the new tax system agreement. Endless meetings were conducted by under treasurers and senior Treasury staff – in not only the Northern Territory but all states of Australia – to ensure that what was being offered by the Commonwealth government was something that we could, firstly, understand, and secondly, that we saw benefit from, before we were going to enter into it. That is just plain common sense.
To suggest that the Territory has done no modelling is also wrong. Extensive modelling was done by the Commonwealth, extensive modelling was done by the Northern Territory, and the discussions and negotiations were all around how the new tax system would impact on the Northern Territory as it would impact on other states of Australia.
The point that the Leader of the Opposition also fails to mention when she talks about the Northern Territory is the fact that I and the Treasurer sat with her Labor colleagues through the Premiers Conference, where we reached the final negotiations for the new tax system for Australia which led to all of us signing. If you had have been there, you would have been absolutely surprised at the absolute exuberance of her Labor colleagues in signing up to the new tax system, and the glee with which they went back to their own jurisdictions knowing that they had a damn good deal on behalf of their own constituents. That is the fact of it. And, frankly, if you ever see the photo when we went to the press conference at the end of it, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory couldn’t even get close to the Prime Minister because Beattie on one side and Carr on the other were shoving everyone out of the way so they could get as close to the Prime Minister as possible and claim as much credit as possible for this particular initiative.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The Chief Minister said he had done modelling for the Territory. Will he release that public paper?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is a second question. It is not a point of order.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I say again, to suggest that the Northern Territory would have entered into the new tax system for Australia, as did every other state in Australia, without knowing what we were doing, just shows their abject ignorance of the knowledge and experience of Treasury officials and treasurers and chief ministers and premiers from all around Australia.
I fail to understand why the Labor Party in the Northern Territory is trying to run a campaign to suggest to Territorians that the new tax system for Australia is wrong. I just don’t understand it, because what they are saying to Territorians is that Australia should stay with countries like Botswana and Swaziland, in terms of how we deal in the global economy and how we apply taxation across the country.
There was a classic interview on the Sunday program last Sunday immediately before my interview where the Labour, I emphasise, Labour leader of New Zealand when questioned on the GST, very quickly dismissed the whole issue. She said that New Zealanders were quite happy with and it simply was not an issue for New Zealanders.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Tell us what roll back would entail. Go out and tell Territorians..
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: That is all you ever get. You go and tell Territorians what roll back is all about. Go and tell Territorians that, firstly, you have got to stay with the GST because you believe in the GST. Go and tell them that - that is the first thing. Then go and tell Territorians how much you are going to roll the GST back. Simple questions. Is it 5%? If it is 5%, you do your modelling and tell us how you are going to pay for it. Come up with one policy.
The simple facts of the new tax system are these. Australia has lived in a house called the taxation house for many years, and that house is old and that house is falling down, and that house is totally unsuitable. What we are doing in Australia is renovating. We have decided the house is no good. If we are going to enjoy life in the future, we’ve got to fix the house up. What we are doing at the moment is knocking down walls, and we are extending the kitchen and we have fixed up the bathroom, and we got the tarpaulins up and we are halfway through the renovations.
I can understand the concern of the average Australian and the average Territorian as to where this new tax system is going and where it is leading us, because we are halfway through the renovations, it’s the wet season, the tarp is up, the bathroom’s knocked out, we are halfway there and we are saying: ‘Why the hell did we ever get into this renovation business?’.
But when Australians get in the new house, when Australians look back and they see the new kitchen and they see the new bathroom and they see the ensuite, like your Labour Leader in New Zealand you will say: ‘Thank God we did it, because we had to do it and we had to make a change’.
The worst thing about the Labor Party approach is, firstly, they believe in the GST, and they know it’s good for Australia. I know your Labor leader mates down in all the other states believe in the GST. They know it’s good for Australia, they know it’s good for their own constituency. They also know there are ups and downs, but they know that the guarantees that have been given will be delivered.
I can tell you that this Chief Minister in the Northern Territory will hold the Prime Minister to the promises he made to Australians and Territorians at the last election, and I’ve already made phone calls to him in that regard. He promised Territorians and Australians that 85% will have a marginal tax rate of 30%, 30 in $1 or less, and he has to deliver on that, for people who earn $50 000 or less. He has to deliver on the excise duties on fuel, he has to deliver on an average of almost $50 a week in everyone’s pay packet, and he has to deliver on what is a broad-based tax system for Australia.
The only thing that has occurred, which frankly disappoints me, is the deal that was done with the Democrats, with pressure by the Labor Party, that put cracks in the tax system, on the food. And again, the Labor Prime Minister of New Zealand pointed to that as a wrong move at the outset.
I can assure Territorians that this Chief Minister will be watching the new tax system and how it is delivered to Australia. And if there is, as I believe, a great benefit to the Northern Territory Treasury coffers, we as a government will be ensuring that we deliver to Territorians benefit in areas like payroll tax and other areas, as soon as we can. We want to make sure that those benefits are delivered to Territorians.
I just say in passing to the member for Wanguri, that this tax rate of $232 in a gross of $640 is too high. There’s something wrong. I’m going to check this guy out again because, frankly, I believe it’s quite wrong the way he continually comes into this House and attempts to mislead with the statements he makes and the way he draws gross generalisations. I put you on notice. I’ll check this one out and we’ll just find out what the real situation is for a person who earns $640 a week and has a gross tax rate of $232.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016