Page 6259 - Week 19 - Tuesday, 17 December 1991
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members to reject this Bill and, if need be, in the fullness of time in the Second Assembly, to take this up as serious private members' business. But do not do it on the run. That would be foolhardy indeed.
MR KAINE (6.45): I must say that having such an amendment put on the table for debate at this time in the life of the Assembly is a little disconcerting, but I have to say to the Chief Minister that I do not find it as offensive as she seems to. I voted against this Bill in 1989 because I did not like the grouping aspects of it, and I have indicated publicly in connection with this particular aspect of it that the Liberals in government would eliminate any anomaly between our law and that in New South Wales.
The Chief Minister implies that the provisions are the same as those in New South Wales, and she may be right. If that is true, then it comes down to the rulings of the commissioner. If the law is the same and we intend it to be enacted and put into effect in the same way, why then does the commissioner not come down with the same rulings as the revenue commissioner in New South Wales? If the Act is the same, there are clearly differences in the way the Act is administered, and that has caused a great deal of concern to people in business.
I have received a constant stream of comment and complaint about the payroll tax legislation since it was introduced in 1989. The thing that Mr Collaery is attempting to address is one of the major points of contention. If I have been receiving submissions on this over the last 2 years, I am sure the Government has too. If they are not prepared to listen to logical argument put to them - and the most recent argument was put to me in a document dated 5 December which I think was sent to all members of this Assembly - - -
Mr Berry: You are not saying that logical argument comes from him?
MR KAINE: This did not come from Mr Collaery. This came from people whose opinion I respect. It came to me and I presume that it went to every member of the Assembly.
If the Government are serious and if they are interested in listening - they talk about themselves as being a consultative government listening to the voice of the community, and I presume that the business community is part of that - why have they not listened? Why is it that Mr Collaery at this stage of the Assembly feels impelled to put this case when the Government itself does not listen?
Mr Moore: Why did he not do it when he was in government?
MR KAINE: I take your point, Mr Moore. The Liberals voted against this Bill in 1989 and our position on that matter has been unchanged. Although Mr Collaery now attempts to rectify it, at no time during that 2 years until now did
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