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❓ Question regarding the rationale behind transfer duty exemptions for family farming businesses and whether these exemptions could be extended to other primary industries like fishing and aquaculture. The answer clarifies the historical context and scope of the existing exemption.

AnsweredQoN 1800Legislative Council

Asked

28 November 2018

Member

Hon Martin Aldridge

Portfolio

Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Energy; Aboriginal Affairs

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to an email sent by my office to the Minister for Finance on 13 August, to which we have not received a response, seeking assistance to better understand the rationale to an announcement made for further exemptions to traditional farming businesses for payment of transfer duty when farming business transitions within a family, and I ask: (a) what is the rationale that supports the exemption of some industries and not others; (b) has the Government considered extending the exemption to be applied to other primary industries such as fishing or aquaculture; and (c) what would the impact be upon State revenue arising from the expansion of such exemptions to industries including fishing and aquaculture?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

20 February 2019

Responded by

Minister for Environment representing the Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Energy; Aboriginal Affairs

Response time

9 days

(a) The family farm exemption has been in place since it was introduced by the Court Government in 1994 to recognise the capital intensity of the farming industry and the relatively low returns.
(b) The current exemption already extends to a broad range of primary producers, including aquaculture.
(c) Transfer duty data is not recorded by industry category.

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