Mr HATTON - 2000-08-10
Over the last couple of days and earlier this morning the opposition have been trying to put down the Northern Territory economy. It appears fairly obvious to anybody who has bothered to glance even cursorily through the Labor Party’s Tasmania business development policy - although I doubt many people have – that they have been trolling through a selection of new, distorted statistics that they have quoted in that document, trying to make up a case that somehow they have some decent answer to the government. I notice, however, that they have very carefully avoided Labor Party policy on taxes on business. What is the status of the overall tax package on business in the Northern Territory at the moment compared to other states, and what would be the implication of the implementation of the Labor party policy stated in their Hobart document?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it takes a parliamentarian of the honourable member’s experience to pick through this load of drivel and misleading graphs and comment to find exactly what the Labor Party policies are.
With regard to the previous question and answer by the Deputy Chief Minister, concerning what we are doing about drug treatment programs, the Labor Party policy if they got into government would be to introduce methadone maintenance programs and heroin injecting rooms in the Northern Territory. Make no mistake about that.
If we go to their Tasmania-launched business policy for Territorians, this is the Labor policy for business in terms of taxes and charges:
Territory taxes and charges should be commensurate with competing jurisdictions comprising the neighbouring states of Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
‘Should be commensurate with competing jurisdictions’. I want to know whether this a literal or figurative use of the word ‘commensurate’. If you look at the taxes on business - and this is a Treasury beef - in competing jurisdictions, you will find that the tax load that is borne by business essentially involves payroll tax, insurance tax and land tax. In the Northern Territory there is no land tax. Comparing the total load of those three taxes, the tax on business in New South Wales is 38%, the tax on business in Victoria is 35%, the tax on business in Queensland is 32%, the tax on business in South Australia is 34%, the tax on business in Western Australia is 35%, the tax on business in Tasmania is 33% and the tax on business in the Northern Territory is 26%.
The Labor Party policy, if they attain government in the Northern Territory, would be to make sure that taxes and charges on business would be ‘commensurate with competing jurisdictions’. That is code for: ‘If we get into government, watch out, because we will raise the tax rate on businesses in the Northern Territory’.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it takes a parliamentarian of the honourable member’s experience to pick through this load of drivel and misleading graphs and comment to find exactly what the Labor Party policies are.
With regard to the previous question and answer by the Deputy Chief Minister, concerning what we are doing about drug treatment programs, the Labor Party policy if they got into government would be to introduce methadone maintenance programs and heroin injecting rooms in the Northern Territory. Make no mistake about that.
If we go to their Tasmania-launched business policy for Territorians, this is the Labor policy for business in terms of taxes and charges:
Territory taxes and charges should be commensurate with competing jurisdictions comprising the neighbouring states of Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
‘Should be commensurate with competing jurisdictions’. I want to know whether this a literal or figurative use of the word ‘commensurate’. If you look at the taxes on business - and this is a Treasury beef - in competing jurisdictions, you will find that the tax load that is borne by business essentially involves payroll tax, insurance tax and land tax. In the Northern Territory there is no land tax. Comparing the total load of those three taxes, the tax on business in New South Wales is 38%, the tax on business in Victoria is 35%, the tax on business in Queensland is 32%, the tax on business in South Australia is 34%, the tax on business in Western Australia is 35%, the tax on business in Tasmania is 33% and the tax on business in the Northern Territory is 26%.
The Labor Party policy, if they attain government in the Northern Territory, would be to make sure that taxes and charges on business would be ‘commensurate with competing jurisdictions’. That is code for: ‘If we get into government, watch out, because we will raise the tax rate on businesses in the Northern Territory’.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016