Mr. Barnett questions the Premier about the potential impact of extending payroll tax to contractors in the home building industry, arguing it will threaten affordability. The Premier assures that genuine independent businesses have nothing to fear, as the focus is on tax avoidance.

AnsweredQoN 452Legislative Assembly
Asked
23 October 2001
Member
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

PAYROLL TAX, APPLICATION TO CONTRACTORS, EFFECT ON HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY 452. Mr BARNETT to the Premier: Is the Premier conscious that the contracting system in the Western Australian home building industry provides home buyers in this State with the lowest rate or price for home construction in Australia? That will be under threat if the payroll tax net is extended in this way. Dr GALLOP

AnswerView source ↗

I answered that question. Genuine, independent businesses have absolutely nothing to fear. We are talking about a device to avoid tax. Mr Barnett: What an absolute insult to the building industry. Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
PAYROLL TAX, APPLICATION TO CONTRACTORS, EFFECT ON HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY
Is the Premier conscious that the contracting system in the Western Australian home building industry provides home buyers in this State with the lowest rate or price for home construction in Australia? That will be under threat if the payroll tax net is extended in this way. Dr GALLOP replied: I answered that question. Genuine, independent businesses have absolutely nothing to fear. We are talking about a device to avoid tax. Mr Barnett: What an absolute insult to the building industry. Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
Dr GALLOP replied: I answered that question. Genuine, independent businesses have absolutely nothing to fear. We are talking about a device to avoid tax. Mr Barnett: What an absolute insult to the building industry. Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
I answered that question. Genuine, independent businesses have absolutely nothing to fear. We are talking about a device to avoid tax. Mr Barnett: What an absolute insult to the building industry. Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
Mr Barnett: What an absolute insult to the building industry. Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
Dr GALLOP: It is not an insult to the building industry. Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
Mr Barnett: Here you go again. This is the premium property tax again. You are insulting decent people. The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
The SPEAKER: Order, Leader of the Opposition! Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.
Dr GALLOP: The Leader of the Opposition is trying to beat up an issue. The Government is going about this in the proper way. We are consulting all those concerned to make sure that the definitions are right. Independent businesses in this State will not have a problem.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more