Mr BONSON - 2003-05-27
The Martin Labor government is committed to lightening the load of Territorians. Can the Treasurer please inform the House how the government has been able to achieve this outcome?
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, did you hear the question? Member for Millner, would you like to repeat that question.
Mr STIRLING: Yes, I was a bit distracted, I would like the question again. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for your indulgence.
Mr BONSON: The Martin Labor government is committed to lightning the load for Territorians. Can the Treasurer please inform the House how the government has been able to achieve this outcome?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Millner for his question, because this budget is very much a case of lightening the load for Territorians. We recognise that the past two years have been pretty tough. There has been a series of external events impacting on the Territory across the board, none of which have made things any easier for people. Anything we can do as a government to reduce the back pocket burden on Territorians, we are very keen to do.
In lightening the load, the $90 registration Temporary Budget Improvement Levy is to cease from 1 July 2003.
Mr Burke interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: It is instructive, because I have seen a press release from the Leader of the Opposition saying this was an unnecessary and vindictive tax. Let me go to why this burden was placed on Territorians in the first place.
When we were elected in August 2001 and sworn in 10 days later, one of our early meetings was with the then Under Treasurer, Ken Clarke. The budget had only been passed some weeks earlier by the then Treasurer, the member for Katherine, with a projected deficit of some $12m. The opening words of Mr Ken Clarke to the newly elected and sworn in Cabinet was that the budget was in an unsustainable position. I said: ‘Mr Under Treasurer, how can this be? This budget passed through this parliament some weeks ago with a $12m deficit’. He said: ‘I have to tell you it is over $100m and I do not know what that bottom line is’. At that stage, arrangements were made with one Professor Percy Allan. He worked very closely with Treasury over the succeeding weeks until we got a bottom line of about $139m deficit.
That is why that levy was put in place because, faced with the burden of debt that they had accumulated over many years of deficits, we could simply, as a government, never have been able to move forward on any of our initiatives.
Ninety thousand car owners in the Northern Territory welcome the removal of this levy; it was to be in place for three years, from November 2001 to November 2004. It is due to our fiscal responsibility that we have been able to take this levy off 18 months earlier than we expected to do. We have been able to deliver that dividend to Territorians because, unlike our predecessors, we keep an eye on the bottom line. The Northern Territory will now have the lowest registration cost for a small vehicle in Australia, and the second lowest for a standard six-cylinder family car.
I mentioned before that the payroll tax reductions are going down, in line with our commitment, from 6.4% to 6.3%, which will affect 1400 firms in the Northern Territory at a cost of $1.5m. So, if you add the $8.4m from the $90 registration Temporary Budget Improvement Levy on the one hand, to the $1.5m from the loss of revenue to the government from reducing the payroll tax rate, $10m is going back to the pockets of Territory families and businesses.
The introduction of a threshold for property leases and franchise will benefit around 450 Territory businesses, about half of the current total number of payees of that tax. The threshold of $30 000 means those small, locally-owned Territory businesses will benefit most, and it is a direct cut in the cost of doing business in the Territory. It is another, probably small, but burdensome and nuisance-like tax to small business that they will be glad to wave away. The increase in the stamp duty threshold for hiring business benefits a further 34 businesses in the Territory. We think that the business world, particularly small business, and indeed Territorians at large, will welcome each of those initiatives as good news for all Territorians.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, did you hear the question? Member for Millner, would you like to repeat that question.
Mr STIRLING: Yes, I was a bit distracted, I would like the question again. Thank you, Madam Speaker, for your indulgence.
Mr BONSON: The Martin Labor government is committed to lightning the load for Territorians. Can the Treasurer please inform the House how the government has been able to achieve this outcome?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Millner for his question, because this budget is very much a case of lightening the load for Territorians. We recognise that the past two years have been pretty tough. There has been a series of external events impacting on the Territory across the board, none of which have made things any easier for people. Anything we can do as a government to reduce the back pocket burden on Territorians, we are very keen to do.
In lightening the load, the $90 registration Temporary Budget Improvement Levy is to cease from 1 July 2003.
Mr Burke interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: It is instructive, because I have seen a press release from the Leader of the Opposition saying this was an unnecessary and vindictive tax. Let me go to why this burden was placed on Territorians in the first place.
When we were elected in August 2001 and sworn in 10 days later, one of our early meetings was with the then Under Treasurer, Ken Clarke. The budget had only been passed some weeks earlier by the then Treasurer, the member for Katherine, with a projected deficit of some $12m. The opening words of Mr Ken Clarke to the newly elected and sworn in Cabinet was that the budget was in an unsustainable position. I said: ‘Mr Under Treasurer, how can this be? This budget passed through this parliament some weeks ago with a $12m deficit’. He said: ‘I have to tell you it is over $100m and I do not know what that bottom line is’. At that stage, arrangements were made with one Professor Percy Allan. He worked very closely with Treasury over the succeeding weeks until we got a bottom line of about $139m deficit.
That is why that levy was put in place because, faced with the burden of debt that they had accumulated over many years of deficits, we could simply, as a government, never have been able to move forward on any of our initiatives.
Ninety thousand car owners in the Northern Territory welcome the removal of this levy; it was to be in place for three years, from November 2001 to November 2004. It is due to our fiscal responsibility that we have been able to take this levy off 18 months earlier than we expected to do. We have been able to deliver that dividend to Territorians because, unlike our predecessors, we keep an eye on the bottom line. The Northern Territory will now have the lowest registration cost for a small vehicle in Australia, and the second lowest for a standard six-cylinder family car.
I mentioned before that the payroll tax reductions are going down, in line with our commitment, from 6.4% to 6.3%, which will affect 1400 firms in the Northern Territory at a cost of $1.5m. So, if you add the $8.4m from the $90 registration Temporary Budget Improvement Levy on the one hand, to the $1.5m from the loss of revenue to the government from reducing the payroll tax rate, $10m is going back to the pockets of Territory families and businesses.
The introduction of a threshold for property leases and franchise will benefit around 450 Territory businesses, about half of the current total number of payees of that tax. The threshold of $30 000 means those small, locally-owned Territory businesses will benefit most, and it is a direct cut in the cost of doing business in the Territory. It is another, probably small, but burdensome and nuisance-like tax to small business that they will be glad to wave away. The increase in the stamp duty threshold for hiring business benefits a further 34 businesses in the Territory. We think that the business world, particularly small business, and indeed Territorians at large, will welcome each of those initiatives as good news for all Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016