Page 176 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 17 February 1993
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PAYROLL TAX (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 2) 1992
Debate resumed from 16 December 1992, on motion by Ms Follett:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
MR DE DOMENICO (3.54): Mr Deputy Speaker, during her budget speech of 1991-92 the Chief Minister suggested that she accepted the recommendations of the joint ACT Treasury and Australian Information Industry Association reports on the adverse impact of payroll tax on the computer industry. She went on to say that she gave a commitment to that industry and employment agents generally that they would be given the same tax exemptions available to other employers in relation to services provided by independent contractors. The Payroll Tax (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) purportedly gives effect to that commitment given by the Chief Minister. It is a commitment similar to those available under section 3B of the Payroll Tax Act to other employers in respect of payments which they make to independent contractors engaged through agency agreements. We note that the Bill also is deemed to be retrospective to the date of the announcement, which is 17 September 1991.
Let me say from the outset that the Liberal Party will not be opposing the Bill. The Bill also introduces new provisions in relation to binding the Crown and we believe that that is a good thing as well because, as the Chief Minister knows, currently the Act applies to wages paid by public authorities of the Territory other than wages paid out of Consolidated Revenue. The ACT tax laws are being amended progressively to allow the taxation of the Crown in right of the ACT and of the State and Northern Territory governments in appropriate circumstances.
It is in fact ironic that we are talking about a payroll tax Bill today, after what has been said from time to time about payroll tax. So I thought that the Assembly should be enlightened by the opinions of some people that perhaps are deemed to be more intelligent and more prominent than we are in the area of payroll tax. One quote I found was by a gentleman called Mr Paul Keating; I think it was in the Australian on 6 December 1977. In 1977 a younger Mr Keating - he was the shadow Minister for Minerals and Energy - said:
... Labor would solve the immediate problem of unemployment "by taking at least 150,000 to 200,000 people off the dole queue" with its reduction in payroll tax ...
He said it in the Age newspaper on the same day. The Age stated:
Meanwhile Labor front bencher Mr Keating -
who was in opposition then, as Labor will be very shortly -
yesterday defended the ALP's proposed payroll tax abolition from charges ... "Our policy (Payroll tax abolition) is not a gift. It's removing a disincentive to unemployment" ... Mr Keating said.
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