Page 2579 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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Mr Gentleman: Yes, Madam Speaker. During the interjections on Minister Barr’s answer, Mr Hanson used the term that the minister was misleading the Assembly, and I think he should withdraw that term.
MADAM SPEAKER: I did not hear—there were lots of things said. It was very loud. I did not hear that. If you used the words “misleading the Assembly”, I would ask you to withdraw, Mr Hanson.
Mr Hanson: I withdraw.
MADAM SPEAKER: On the level of rowdiness, before I call any supplementary questioner, I called Mr Hanson, Mr Coe and Mr Wall to order on a number of occasions during that. The extent to which I was ignored was pretty unedifying. Mr Barr was right to draw it to attention, and I was proposing to deal with it at the end because it had started to quieten down. As I have said on a number of occasions, I do believe in free flow of debate and free flow at question time, but senseless, loud barking across the chamber does not come within that classification. When I call people to order I expect them to come to order. A supplementary question, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, how much have commercial rates increased by in Manuka since 2012?
MR BARR: That will vary property by property depending on the rolling three-year unimproved land value, but the point that I make, and I will repeat, is that yes, rates are increasing, but they are being offset by decreases for business in a number of other taxes, namely, the abolition of commercial land tax, the abolition on 1 July next year of all tax on insurance, reductions in payroll tax and reductions in commercial stamp duty. So we have four taxes going down, but we do not get any questions from those opposite about that, reflecting once again their economic ignorance in relation to the interaction of taxes in this economy.
The bottom line is that we may as well use the best and fairest form of taxation rather than the worst and unfairest. What the Liberal Party want—
Mr Hanson: What, so tripling people’s rates is fair, is it?
MR BARR: So you want more stamp duty, more insurance tax, more payroll tax and more GST. That is the Liberal Party position. But you want to triple every other tax that people pay. That is the position of the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Wall interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr Wall!
MR BARR: Every other tax will just be quietly allowed to go up and up and up—the worst taxes levied by state and territory governments. That is the Jeremy Hanson way. He wants his hand in your pocket every time you transact on a property. That is what he wants. Every time you take out an insurance policy, he wants to tax it.
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