❓ Mr. Buswell questions Treasurer Ripper about inaccurate budget forecasts and demands tax relief. Ripper defends his record, citing tax cuts and economic factors.
AnsweredQoN 767Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET - TAX RECEIPTS
I refer the Treasurer to the recently released September quarter financials and his May budget figures that indicate that at the end of September, payroll tax receipts were actually 20.5 per cent higher than at the same time last year and significantly more than the budget forecast of a 7.9 per cent annual increase; that receipts from stamp duty on motor vehicles have increased by 7.5 per cent compared with the Treasurer’s budget forecast of a 4.7 per cent fall; and that the total tax take, excluding land tax and metropolitan region improvement tax, has increased by 6.8 per cent compared with his budget forecast of a 1.7 per cent fall. (1) Why are the Treasurer’s budget forecasting efforts once again so inaccurate? (2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER
I refer the Treasurer to the recently released September quarter financials and his May budget figures that indicate that at the end of September, payroll tax receipts were actually 20.5 per cent higher than at the same time last year and significantly more than the budget forecast of a 7.9 per cent annual increase; that receipts from stamp duty on motor vehicles have increased by 7.5 per cent compared with the Treasurer’s budget forecast of a 4.7 per cent fall; and that the total tax take, excluding land tax and metropolitan region improvement tax, has increased by 6.8 per cent compared with his budget forecast of a 1.7 per cent fall. (1) Why are the Treasurer’s budget forecasting efforts once again so inaccurate? (2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(1) Why are the Treasurer’s budget forecasting efforts once again so inaccurate? (2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(1) Why are the Treasurer’s budget forecasting efforts once again so inaccurate? (2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(2) Given his continued reign as Australia’s highest taxing state Treasurer, when will the Treasurer provide meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
(1)-(2) I have provided meaningful tax relief to Western Australian businesses and households. We have the second lowest taxation of all the states as a share of our economy. I think that only Tasmania has a lower tax share of its economy. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, of course, selectively quoted from the results report, because he did not mention that stamp duty on property conveyances has fallen compared with the same quarter last year. It has fallen because of the slowing of the property market and because of the $80 million generous stamp duty exemption for first home buyers - the most generous stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers in the nation. Payroll tax is performing very strongly at the moment because of the very high rate of employment in this state and because of strong growth in average weekly earnings. Those are good things about the economy of Western Australia. People are earning more, and more people than ever before are in employment. We have a historically low unemployment rate. Of course, one would expect payroll tax to be performing well in those circumstances. As I said to Mark Drummond when I spoke to him about these issues, the very same forces that are driving growth in payroll tax receipts are also increasing the costs faced by the government. The two biggest costs that we face are the cost of employing our 100 000-strong public sector workforce and the cost of implementing our capital works program. We have a strong economy, which is terrific. It brings in additional revenue but it also increases the cost pressures on government. We have had five rounds of tax cuts since 2004. We look at tax settings for each budget. Every single dollar of the surplus is already spent on building the infrastructure that this state needs for the future. That is what we are doing with the surplus. The opposition is saying that we should borrow more or build less so that we can provide tax cuts. That is the proposition of the opposition. It is saying that we should incur more debt for our children so that we can have tax cuts now. That is the opposition’s proposition. Each budget we look at the balance between taxes, wages, infrastructure and services, and try to get a fair balance and we will do that again. In the meantime, if the Deputy Leader of the Opposition wants a cut in the rate of stamp duty, he can support the bill that I put before the house earlier this week and ensure its rapid passage through the Parliament. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to order first time.
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