❓ Mrs. Harvey questions the Premier's involvement in federal issues while seemingly neglecting WA tax cuts. The Premier defends his position by highlighting past tax increases under the Liberal Party and current debt reduction efforts.
AnsweredQoN 485Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TAX CUTS — FEDERAL LABOR POLICY
485. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
pathetic response yesterday when he refused, as Premier of Western Australia,
to advocate for tax cuts for all Western Australians. How can the Premier
involve himself in federal issues, namely the chaos and division within Labor
associated with John Setka and Christy Cain, but cannot involve himself with
desperately needed tax cuts for 1.4 million Western Australians that will help
struggling households, small businesses, and much-needed jobs?
485. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
pathetic response yesterday when he refused, as Premier of Western Australia,
to advocate for tax cuts for all Western Australians. How can the Premier
involve himself in federal issues, namely the chaos and division within Labor
associated with John Setka and Christy Cain, but cannot involve himself with
desperately needed tax cuts for 1.4 million Western Australians that will help
struggling households, small businesses, and much-needed jobs?
AnswerView source ↗
The
member has spent three days as opposition leader and is already repeating her
questions. I will repeat my answer. We are the state Parliament. The Liberal
Party in office put up land tax on small businesses across Western Australia three
times.
Mr D.C. Nalder : What have you
done?
Mr
M. McGOWAN : The member for
Bateman has a very short memory. I am going to remind him of what the former government did. There was $1.5 billion worth of
land tax increases on small businesses across Western Australia during its time in office. That is what it did. But I had
forgotten about another thing it did in office. Remember the cancelling of the
payroll tax reduction? When the Liberal Party came into office, payroll tax
reductions for small business were already scheduled and legislated. Who came
to office and legislated to abolish them? The Liberals and Nationals did!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Bateman!
Mr M. McGOWAN : When the
Liberal–National government came into office —
Mrs L.M. Harvey : We raised
the threshold.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The former
government cut the legislated payroll tax reductions. From memory, Treasurer, I
recall it also got rid of cuts to stamp duty when it came into office.
Admittedly, that was 10 years ago, but I have a long memory. When the former
government was in office, it put up fees and charges by more than $2 100 per
household. That is what happened.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine and member for Bateman, it is your last warning!
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are the
state Parliament. This government is getting on with the job of fixing the mess
we were left.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Vasse!
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are getting
on with the job of getting the debt and deficit we were left under control.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : A question was
asked. I want to hear the answer. There is just a wall of noise.
Mr M. McGOWAN : You may note,
Mr Speaker, that yesterday's The Australian had on its front
page a story about each of the states of Australia. The only state in Australia
that has debt going down is Western Australia, under this Labor government.
member has spent three days as opposition leader and is already repeating her
questions. I will repeat my answer. We are the state Parliament. The Liberal
Party in office put up land tax on small businesses across Western Australia three
times.
Mr D.C. Nalder : What have you
done?
Mr
M. McGOWAN : The member for
Bateman has a very short memory. I am going to remind him of what the former government did. There was $1.5 billion worth of
land tax increases on small businesses across Western Australia during its time in office. That is what it did. But I had
forgotten about another thing it did in office. Remember the cancelling of the
payroll tax reduction? When the Liberal Party came into office, payroll tax
reductions for small business were already scheduled and legislated. Who came
to office and legislated to abolish them? The Liberals and Nationals did!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Bateman!
Mr M. McGOWAN : When the
Liberal–National government came into office —
Mrs L.M. Harvey : We raised
the threshold.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The former
government cut the legislated payroll tax reductions. From memory, Treasurer, I
recall it also got rid of cuts to stamp duty when it came into office.
Admittedly, that was 10 years ago, but I have a long memory. When the former
government was in office, it put up fees and charges by more than $2 100 per
household. That is what happened.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine and member for Bateman, it is your last warning!
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are the
state Parliament. This government is getting on with the job of fixing the mess
we were left.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Vasse!
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are getting
on with the job of getting the debt and deficit we were left under control.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : A question was
asked. I want to hear the answer. There is just a wall of noise.
Mr M. McGOWAN : You may note,
Mr Speaker, that yesterday's The Australian had on its front
page a story about each of the states of Australia. The only state in Australia
that has debt going down is Western Australia, under this Labor government.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.