❓ Premier Court responds to concerns about declining business confidence in Victoria under a Labor government, warning of similar risks for WA, citing increased spending, taxes, and borrowing.
AnsweredQoN 367Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Is the Premier aware of the rapid decline in business confidence in Victoria after only 13 months of a Labor Government? (2) What are the warnings for Western Australia? Mr COURT
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
(2) What are the warnings for Western Australia? Mr COURT replied: (1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT replied: (1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
(1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
(2) What are the warnings for Western Australia? Mr COURT replied: (1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT replied: (1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
(1)-(2) It has taken just 13 months for the Labor Party to destroy business confidence in Victoria. The Labor Party has a simple economic philosophy: Spend, tax and borrow. They are the three areas. It is interesting that the first thing that has happened - Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Ripper: Hasn’t the Victorian Government got a surplus? Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: I will tell members about the surplus straightaway. Mike Nahan, whom the Opposition often quotes, said that Victoria’s surplus would be gone next year. The Labor Party has been in government in Victoria for 13 months and it has already blown the surplus. An article in The Australian Financial Review of 15 November states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday that its expenditure - Mr MacLean interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
The SPEAKER: Order! I formally call the member for Wanneroo to order for the first time. If I ask him to come to order and he does not do so, I will formally call him to order again and again. Now get the message. Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: The article states - The Bracks Government was warned by the Victorian Auditor-General yesterday - That would have been on 14 November, because this article is dated 15 November - - that its expenditure was outstripping economic growth and would have to be checked to maintain financial strength. In just 13 months, the Victorian Labor Government has adopted this big-spending mentality. As the Minister assisting the Treasurer said yesterday, the Victorian Government is now starting to float the idea of a land tax on residential homes, which is exactly what the Carr Government did in New South Wales. It brought in a land tax on homes valued at over $1m - that was its starting point - and it has been found that more and more people in New South Wales are being brought into that net. Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Another interesting issue is that the Victorian Labor Government is determined to bring back an industrial relations system in Victoria that will give absolute power and control to the union movement, to the point of bringing all the subcontractors into its industrial relations system. Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Ripper: What did the article say about Mr Bracks’ popularity? I thought it was 74 per cent. Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: The article says that workers compensation premiums have increased 30 to 100 per cent, and that small businesspeople are jamming the talkback telephones because of the tax burden being placed on them. I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
I suggest that all members should read a very good article in this morning’s The Australian Financial Review . It said that one thing the Bracks Government was good at was putting out press releases. However, the business community said that the Government did not deliver on anything it promised in those press releases. Does that not sound familiar? I think of those 10 years of Labor government in Western Australia and all those press releases that went out, on which the Labor Government did not deliver. It has taken only 13 months for a Labor Government in Victoria to come in, wipe out a surplus and destroy business confidence in that State. It is a good warning. Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr Barnett: Be fair, the Opposition could do it in six months! Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
Mr COURT: It could do it in six months. The Leader of the Opposition interjected and asked where my children went to school. My children go to a government school, and I participate in all of the busy bees. I do what I am told, shifting sand from A to B, and then I am told to shift it from C to D, so I do that. The state Minister for Education and the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament are both outstanding graduates of government schools in this State.
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