Page 1231 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2016
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is on tax reform. We know what he is opposed to, but we do not actually know whether he will reverse any of the things that he is opposed to. Is he going to bring back stamp duty? Is he going to reduce rates without bringing back stamp duty? Is that what he is going to do? Is he going to put a tax back on every small business owner who needs insurance for their properties, for their services, for their vehicles? Is that his position, Madam Deputy Speaker?
Mr Hanson: Is it?
MR CORBELL: Indeed, is it, Jeremy? Is that your position? What is your position, Mr Hanson? I think that is the question, Madam Deputy Speaker. What is his position on tax reform, because it is quite clear that he has failed to deliver? He has failed to deliver.
Members interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Gentlemen, can we stop having the banter across the chamber and allow Mr Corbell to speak in silence?
MR CORBELL: Mr Smyth’s motion also talks about not signing contracts for the light rail project before the forthcoming election. I do not know where Mr Smyth and those opposite have been for the past three years, but the government actually set out the timetable for procurement of this project before the last election.
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can I remind you, Mr Hanson, that you are on a warning? As I understand it, you are on a warning.
Mr Hanson: Not today, as I understand it.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: What a shame. You could head there, though. Please be quiet. I apologise, Mr Corbell, but I thought people should be able to hear you.
MR CORBELL: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Our commitment was clear, and it remains so. The Chief Minister and I issued a statement on 21 September 2012. We said very clearly that stage 1 of the capital metro project is anticipated to be completed—completed—by 2018, with construction estimated to commence in 2016. That was our commitment. There was no doubt, either, from Mr Seselja, the then Leader of the Opposition, about what our commitment meant. He was very clear about his position. He said that he doubted whether we would meet the construction time frame. That was Mr Seselja’s position.
Let us be very clear about what they understood, what we said and what the community was told before the last election. It was that we were going to procure stage 1 of light rail for the future of the city and that we were going to deliver it. We were going to construct it and we were going to deliver it using a public-private partnership model, and that is exactly what we are doing.
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