Ms MARTIN - 2000-02-23
The National Tax and Accountants Association says that 80% of people earning between $20 000 and $50 000 a year will be worse off under the GST. Most Territorians are in this category. Does the Chief Minister still support the GST when clearly most Territorians will be worse off?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Northern Territory government supports the GST because it’s good for Territorians. The Northern Territory government supports the GST because for the first time since self-government we have a guaranteed flow of income from the Commonwealth. A guaranteed flow of income through the GST and no longer do we have the begging-bowl situation where the Northern Territory has to go down and fight every inch for its allocation of money, and also have to fight southern states leaders as they put up arguments against the Northern Territory getting its fair share.
I might add that my support, no matter what rhetoric is running around the place nowadays, particularly from the Labor leaders down south, the Labor Leader opposite, or Kim Beazley, there are some plain facts of the matter, and that is an agreement has been signed. And the agreement to the new tax system in Australia was signed by Labor Leaders Bacon, Carr, signed by Beattie and you weren’t in the room. If you get the copy of the press conference that happened straight after the agreement was signed, I was pushed right to one side as Beattie and Carr tried to get close to the Prime Minister and tried to get as much ownership of this issue as they could.
The facts of it are this, that the new tax system for Australia cannot be changed at all without the full agreement of all state and territory leaders, that’s the fact of it. I just find it laughable that somehow the Labor leaders and Beazley have somehow on the road to Damascus decided that this is not a fair system. Well, if they don’t think it is a fair system why don’t they come straight out and say they would overturn it. But they can’t even do that. They have the gall to talk about honesty to Australians when they are running a straight fraud campaign.
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I just want to direct the Chief Minister’s attention to the nub of the question, which was that 80% of those earning between $20 000 and $50 000 a year will be worse off according to the National Tax and Accountants Association. That was the question and we haven’t heard a word on it.
Mr SPEAKER: Again, I will say that the Chief Minister can answer this question in whichever way he chooses, but I would ask the Chief Minister to get on with the answer as quickly as possible.
Mr BURKE: I will get on with the answer, but we should all understand the strategy that is trying to be employed by the Labor Party and that is that they are trying to go to individual items, or they’re trying to go to individual commentators to try and undermine the new tax system. I simply make the point to Territorians that if they were honest they would say that a Labor Party in government would get rid of the new tax system in Australia. And they don’t even have the base honesty to say that to Australians. What they say to Australians is, ‘Oh, it will be so far in vogue by the time we get in government that we wouldn’t really be able to untangle it’. I mean, what gall! How dumb do they think Australians are? They either believe in this system or they don’t. And the fact is, they do.
That’s the fact of it, and if they were truthful to Australians, if the Leader of the Opposition here in the Northern Territory was truthful to Territorians, she would go out and she would tell the truth. She would tell the truth that the wholesale sales tax in Australia doesn’t work any more. It doesn’t work world-wide any more. It’s too narrow-based as a taxation system. It makes Australia uncompetitive because it taxes our exports. How can you have the primary motive of your tax system, apart from income tax ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr BURKE: Oh, shut up! ... on a wholesale tax system, when your whole economy ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection, and often that interjection is just low, it’s a monotone, but it’s quite annoying, certainly annoying for those people trying to hear what’s going on, so I would ask you to refrain.
Mr BURKE: How can you have your whole ...
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I think if the Chief Minister is going to tell the opposition to shut up, it’s very provocative.
Mr SPEAKER: I think that the comment coming from, and particularly the monotone from the member for Stuart is very annoying, and is worthy of that. It was my call. I let it go, and the Chief Minister, in his attempting to answer the question was being annoyed by it. I ask members to refrain.
Mr BURKE: The Leader of the Opposition calls this Chief Minister ‘racist’ and she doesn’t think that’s provocative, and she’s concerned because I say ‘shut up’? I mean, let’s get a bit of equity in this House.
Ms Martin: We’re talking about the GST. What are you talking about?
Mr BURKE: I’m talking about a new tax system for Australia, and the new tax system for Australia has to go off the wholesale sales tax, because you can’t have a narrow-based tax system predominantly on that part of a manufacturing sector when your whole economy is moving to a service sector. We have to move to a broad-based tax system. We have to get past the days when countries like Botswana and a few others I have mentioned here - these are the only countries in the world that still have a narrow-based tax system - Botswana, Ghana, Jordan, Pakistan, Solomon Islands and Swaziland. Now if you were honest, if the Labor Party was honest, they would say to Australians and Territorians, we want Australia …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He has gone on for twelve minutes by my watch, without interjection. He has made no attempt to answer the heart of the question, he is simply using Question Time.
Mr SPEAKER: Again, I say that there is no point of order, but I do ask the Chief Minister to get on with the answer.
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, it’s becoming plain and patently obvious that the opposition are using points of orders as a means of disrupting Question Time. They know that they can no longer get away with constant, incessant and inane interjection, and, Mr Speaker, I’d ask you to ignore their future calls for points of order.
Mr SPEAKER: I hear the Leader of Government Business’ advice, but I don’t believe that option is open to me.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, the answer to the heart of the question is that 80% of Australians will be on a marginal tax rate of 30c in the dollar or less, and the average Australian, under the new tax system, will have $47 to $50 per week extra in their hand than they would have had under the old system That’s the heart of the question. That is not the issue.
The issue is honesty to Australians. Honesty to tell Australians that we have to move on. The old taxation house is falling down. Yes, it is going to be hard. Yes, it’s going to be difficult for different parts of the sectors as we move through under a new tax system. Why don’t you stand there and be honest and say you really want Australia to be like Swaziland? Why don’t you stand up and say this tax system’s no good, we are following the lead of Botswana? That is what you should be saying to Australians. If you can’t say that at least say the GST is good for Australia. The truth is you know that, so how you get around that then is to say you are going to roll it back. If you are going to be honest with Australians, tell them what you are going to roll back. That’s not asking a lot. Just tell Australians what you are going to roll back, and don’t have the gall to come in here and ask us about a federal tax and how much of the SPPs will be rolled back when you can’t even say yourself whether you will keep SPPs or how much they will be rolled back. If you want to ask questions about the GST come on and ask them, but you have your own answers ready too.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Northern Territory government supports the GST because it’s good for Territorians. The Northern Territory government supports the GST because for the first time since self-government we have a guaranteed flow of income from the Commonwealth. A guaranteed flow of income through the GST and no longer do we have the begging-bowl situation where the Northern Territory has to go down and fight every inch for its allocation of money, and also have to fight southern states leaders as they put up arguments against the Northern Territory getting its fair share.
I might add that my support, no matter what rhetoric is running around the place nowadays, particularly from the Labor leaders down south, the Labor Leader opposite, or Kim Beazley, there are some plain facts of the matter, and that is an agreement has been signed. And the agreement to the new tax system in Australia was signed by Labor Leaders Bacon, Carr, signed by Beattie and you weren’t in the room. If you get the copy of the press conference that happened straight after the agreement was signed, I was pushed right to one side as Beattie and Carr tried to get close to the Prime Minister and tried to get as much ownership of this issue as they could.
The facts of it are this, that the new tax system for Australia cannot be changed at all without the full agreement of all state and territory leaders, that’s the fact of it. I just find it laughable that somehow the Labor leaders and Beazley have somehow on the road to Damascus decided that this is not a fair system. Well, if they don’t think it is a fair system why don’t they come straight out and say they would overturn it. But they can’t even do that. They have the gall to talk about honesty to Australians when they are running a straight fraud campaign.
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I just want to direct the Chief Minister’s attention to the nub of the question, which was that 80% of those earning between $20 000 and $50 000 a year will be worse off according to the National Tax and Accountants Association. That was the question and we haven’t heard a word on it.
Mr SPEAKER: Again, I will say that the Chief Minister can answer this question in whichever way he chooses, but I would ask the Chief Minister to get on with the answer as quickly as possible.
Mr BURKE: I will get on with the answer, but we should all understand the strategy that is trying to be employed by the Labor Party and that is that they are trying to go to individual items, or they’re trying to go to individual commentators to try and undermine the new tax system. I simply make the point to Territorians that if they were honest they would say that a Labor Party in government would get rid of the new tax system in Australia. And they don’t even have the base honesty to say that to Australians. What they say to Australians is, ‘Oh, it will be so far in vogue by the time we get in government that we wouldn’t really be able to untangle it’. I mean, what gall! How dumb do they think Australians are? They either believe in this system or they don’t. And the fact is, they do.
That’s the fact of it, and if they were truthful to Australians, if the Leader of the Opposition here in the Northern Territory was truthful to Territorians, she would go out and she would tell the truth. She would tell the truth that the wholesale sales tax in Australia doesn’t work any more. It doesn’t work world-wide any more. It’s too narrow-based as a taxation system. It makes Australia uncompetitive because it taxes our exports. How can you have the primary motive of your tax system, apart from income tax ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr BURKE: Oh, shut up! ... on a wholesale tax system, when your whole economy ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much interjection, and often that interjection is just low, it’s a monotone, but it’s quite annoying, certainly annoying for those people trying to hear what’s going on, so I would ask you to refrain.
Mr BURKE: How can you have your whole ...
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I think if the Chief Minister is going to tell the opposition to shut up, it’s very provocative.
Mr SPEAKER: I think that the comment coming from, and particularly the monotone from the member for Stuart is very annoying, and is worthy of that. It was my call. I let it go, and the Chief Minister, in his attempting to answer the question was being annoyed by it. I ask members to refrain.
Mr BURKE: The Leader of the Opposition calls this Chief Minister ‘racist’ and she doesn’t think that’s provocative, and she’s concerned because I say ‘shut up’? I mean, let’s get a bit of equity in this House.
Ms Martin: We’re talking about the GST. What are you talking about?
Mr BURKE: I’m talking about a new tax system for Australia, and the new tax system for Australia has to go off the wholesale sales tax, because you can’t have a narrow-based tax system predominantly on that part of a manufacturing sector when your whole economy is moving to a service sector. We have to move to a broad-based tax system. We have to get past the days when countries like Botswana and a few others I have mentioned here - these are the only countries in the world that still have a narrow-based tax system - Botswana, Ghana, Jordan, Pakistan, Solomon Islands and Swaziland. Now if you were honest, if the Labor Party was honest, they would say to Australians and Territorians, we want Australia …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He has gone on for twelve minutes by my watch, without interjection. He has made no attempt to answer the heart of the question, he is simply using Question Time.
Mr SPEAKER: Again, I say that there is no point of order, but I do ask the Chief Minister to get on with the answer.
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, it’s becoming plain and patently obvious that the opposition are using points of orders as a means of disrupting Question Time. They know that they can no longer get away with constant, incessant and inane interjection, and, Mr Speaker, I’d ask you to ignore their future calls for points of order.
Mr SPEAKER: I hear the Leader of Government Business’ advice, but I don’t believe that option is open to me.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, the answer to the heart of the question is that 80% of Australians will be on a marginal tax rate of 30c in the dollar or less, and the average Australian, under the new tax system, will have $47 to $50 per week extra in their hand than they would have had under the old system That’s the heart of the question. That is not the issue.
The issue is honesty to Australians. Honesty to tell Australians that we have to move on. The old taxation house is falling down. Yes, it is going to be hard. Yes, it’s going to be difficult for different parts of the sectors as we move through under a new tax system. Why don’t you stand there and be honest and say you really want Australia to be like Swaziland? Why don’t you stand up and say this tax system’s no good, we are following the lead of Botswana? That is what you should be saying to Australians. If you can’t say that at least say the GST is good for Australia. The truth is you know that, so how you get around that then is to say you are going to roll it back. If you are going to be honest with Australians, tell them what you are going to roll back. That’s not asking a lot. Just tell Australians what you are going to roll back, and don’t have the gall to come in here and ask us about a federal tax and how much of the SPPs will be rolled back when you can’t even say yourself whether you will keep SPPs or how much they will be rolled back. If you want to ask questions about the GST come on and ask them, but you have your own answers ready too.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016