Page 2046 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 25 October 1989
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That so much of the standing and temporary orders be suspended as would allow order of the day No. 1, executive business, to be called on forthwith.
PAYROLL TAX (AMENDMENT) BILL 1989
Debate resumed from 17 October 1989, on motion by Ms Follett:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.57): The Treasurer on 28 September presented this Bill to the Assembly with the purpose of seeking to amend the Payroll Tax Act 1987. This is a Bill which the Treasurer has initiated as part of her election promise of innovative revenue measures. It is part of her attempt to produce at least a balanced budget, having found that she could not deliver one with the promised $50m surplus. Having failed to attack the fundamental issues that the budget should have addressed, the Treasurer is now forced to look at means of raising additional revenues even to maintain the steady-as-she-goes philosophy of this Government.
The result is now that the Government is seeking to raise revenue for the ACT through regressive tax measures based on the false notion that small business can carry the additional burden and bail the Government out of its predicament. At a time when the influence of the public sector on the ACT economy is declining and the momentum of the private sector is increasing, the Government is introducing a Bill which will have a severe adverse effect on employment growth and revenue raising potential in the ACT. This can only be described as an attack on employers in the Territory, a sector which will provide, according to a recent government report, the majority of new jobs in the ACT to the year 2001, and ultimately as an attack on the consumer.
Changes to the payroll tax system to increase revenue from this source demonstrate a clear lack of foresight and initiative by the Treasurer. The increased tax burden on the business sector has the potential of slowing economic growth in the ACT down, perhaps to a standstill. The Treasurer presented the Bill on the basis of preventing an erosion of the existing tax rate, although no evidence of erosion has been presented to support that contention. However, the budget papers indicate that the Government will gain a significant increase in revenue from payroll tax to the tune of over $6m or about 10 per cent in this financial year. Does this not raise the question of whether the Treasurer's affected justification is spurious and is it the intent simply to raise more revenue? It is a clear, unequivocal mechanism for increasing the tax burden on business, and particularly small business. It is a premeditated move to try to balance the budget.
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