❓ Treasurer Ripper responds to federal Minister Vanstone's claims about state taxes hurting low-income families by deflecting, highlighting the GST's impact, and accusing Vanstone of hypocrisy and using outdated data from the previous Liberal-National government.
AnsweredQoN 217Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE TAXES, CLAIM BY FEDERAL MINISTER
I refer to recent claims by the federal Minister for Family and Community Services that state taxes are hurting low-income families. Can the Treasurer advise the House whether there is any truth to the federal minister’s assertions? Mr E.S. RIPPER
I refer to recent claims by the federal Minister for Family and Community Services that state taxes are hurting low-income families. Can the Treasurer advise the House whether there is any truth to the federal minister’s assertions? Mr E.S. RIPPER
AnswerView source ↗
It is very interesting that when the federal Minister for Family and Community Services is supposed to be negotiating a decent disability services agreement with the States, she resorts to this sort of red herring. She should get on with negotiating a fair agreement for people with disabilities in this State instead of trying to play politics. She instructed her federal Department of Family and Community Services to build a profile of the taxes and charges imposed in every State and Territory and, on 14 October, she issued a pro-forma statement attacking each and every State and Territory Government for allegedly hurting low-income earners. That is an attack by a minister in a Government which does not run a single school or hospital and which introduced the goods and services tax, which applies to the basic necessities of low-income families - even funerals. The minister said that the Gallop Government was responsible for the highest insurance tax burden, at $82 a head, and the highest public transport fare increases in Australia. I am sure members opposite will be quick to agree with their federal colleague; however, I warn them that there is a little difficulty with the argument. The federal minister appears to be labouring under the misconception that the Gallop Government has been the Government in power for the past decade. All her figures relate to 2000-01, the last year of the Liberal-National coalition Government. I do not know what to do. Do I defend the State of Western Australia against this unjustified attack, or do I join with Senator Vanstone in attacking the people opposite? I am not sure which course of action to take, but I think the facts and the truth should be allowed to speak for themselves. I hope the Leader of the Opposition is prepared for these statistics. It is true that under the Court Government, public transport fares increased by 43 per cent in the 1990s, the greatest increase of all States and Territories. It is also true that under the Court Government, stamp duty on insurance policies was the highest of all States and Territories in per capita terms. I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: It is very interesting that when the federal Minister for Family and Community Services is supposed to be negotiating a decent disability services agreement with the States, she resorts to this sort of red herring. She should get on with negotiating a fair agreement for people with disabilities in this State instead of trying to play politics. She instructed her federal Department of Family and Community Services to build a profile of the taxes and charges imposed in every State and Territory and, on 14 October, she issued a pro-forma statement attacking each and every State and Territory Government for allegedly hurting low-income earners. That is an attack by a minister in a Government which does not run a single school or hospital and which introduced the goods and services tax, which applies to the basic necessities of low-income families - even funerals. The minister said that the Gallop Government was responsible for the highest insurance tax burden, at $82 a head, and the highest public transport fare increases in Australia. I am sure members opposite will be quick to agree with their federal colleague; however, I warn them that there is a little difficulty with the argument. The federal minister appears to be labouring under the misconception that the Gallop Government has been the Government in power for the past decade. All her figures relate to 2000-01, the last year of the Liberal-National coalition Government. I do not know what to do. Do I defend the State of Western Australia against this unjustified attack, or do I join with Senator Vanstone in attacking the people opposite? I am not sure which course of action to take, but I think the facts and the truth should be allowed to speak for themselves. I hope the Leader of the Opposition is prepared for these statistics. It is true that under the Court Government, public transport fares increased by 43 per cent in the 1990s, the greatest increase of all States and Territories. It is also true that under the Court Government, stamp duty on insurance policies was the highest of all States and Territories in per capita terms. I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
It is very interesting that when the federal Minister for Family and Community Services is supposed to be negotiating a decent disability services agreement with the States, she resorts to this sort of red herring. She should get on with negotiating a fair agreement for people with disabilities in this State instead of trying to play politics. She instructed her federal Department of Family and Community Services to build a profile of the taxes and charges imposed in every State and Territory and, on 14 October, she issued a pro-forma statement attacking each and every State and Territory Government for allegedly hurting low-income earners. That is an attack by a minister in a Government which does not run a single school or hospital and which introduced the goods and services tax, which applies to the basic necessities of low-income families - even funerals. The minister said that the Gallop Government was responsible for the highest insurance tax burden, at $82 a head, and the highest public transport fare increases in Australia. I am sure members opposite will be quick to agree with their federal colleague; however, I warn them that there is a little difficulty with the argument. The federal minister appears to be labouring under the misconception that the Gallop Government has been the Government in power for the past decade. All her figures relate to 2000-01, the last year of the Liberal-National coalition Government. I do not know what to do. Do I defend the State of Western Australia against this unjustified attack, or do I join with Senator Vanstone in attacking the people opposite? I am not sure which course of action to take, but I think the facts and the truth should be allowed to speak for themselves. I hope the Leader of the Opposition is prepared for these statistics. It is true that under the Court Government, public transport fares increased by 43 per cent in the 1990s, the greatest increase of all States and Territories. It is also true that under the Court Government, stamp duty on insurance policies was the highest of all States and Territories in per capita terms. I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: It is very interesting that when the federal Minister for Family and Community Services is supposed to be negotiating a decent disability services agreement with the States, she resorts to this sort of red herring. She should get on with negotiating a fair agreement for people with disabilities in this State instead of trying to play politics. She instructed her federal Department of Family and Community Services to build a profile of the taxes and charges imposed in every State and Territory and, on 14 October, she issued a pro-forma statement attacking each and every State and Territory Government for allegedly hurting low-income earners. That is an attack by a minister in a Government which does not run a single school or hospital and which introduced the goods and services tax, which applies to the basic necessities of low-income families - even funerals. The minister said that the Gallop Government was responsible for the highest insurance tax burden, at $82 a head, and the highest public transport fare increases in Australia. I am sure members opposite will be quick to agree with their federal colleague; however, I warn them that there is a little difficulty with the argument. The federal minister appears to be labouring under the misconception that the Gallop Government has been the Government in power for the past decade. All her figures relate to 2000-01, the last year of the Liberal-National coalition Government. I do not know what to do. Do I defend the State of Western Australia against this unjustified attack, or do I join with Senator Vanstone in attacking the people opposite? I am not sure which course of action to take, but I think the facts and the truth should be allowed to speak for themselves. I hope the Leader of the Opposition is prepared for these statistics. It is true that under the Court Government, public transport fares increased by 43 per cent in the 1990s, the greatest increase of all States and Territories. It is also true that under the Court Government, stamp duty on insurance policies was the highest of all States and Territories in per capita terms. I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
It is very interesting that when the federal Minister for Family and Community Services is supposed to be negotiating a decent disability services agreement with the States, she resorts to this sort of red herring. She should get on with negotiating a fair agreement for people with disabilities in this State instead of trying to play politics. She instructed her federal Department of Family and Community Services to build a profile of the taxes and charges imposed in every State and Territory and, on 14 October, she issued a pro-forma statement attacking each and every State and Territory Government for allegedly hurting low-income earners. That is an attack by a minister in a Government which does not run a single school or hospital and which introduced the goods and services tax, which applies to the basic necessities of low-income families - even funerals. The minister said that the Gallop Government was responsible for the highest insurance tax burden, at $82 a head, and the highest public transport fare increases in Australia. I am sure members opposite will be quick to agree with their federal colleague; however, I warn them that there is a little difficulty with the argument. The federal minister appears to be labouring under the misconception that the Gallop Government has been the Government in power for the past decade. All her figures relate to 2000-01, the last year of the Liberal-National coalition Government. I do not know what to do. Do I defend the State of Western Australia against this unjustified attack, or do I join with Senator Vanstone in attacking the people opposite? I am not sure which course of action to take, but I think the facts and the truth should be allowed to speak for themselves. I hope the Leader of the Opposition is prepared for these statistics. It is true that under the Court Government, public transport fares increased by 43 per cent in the 1990s, the greatest increase of all States and Territories. It is also true that under the Court Government, stamp duty on insurance policies was the highest of all States and Territories in per capita terms. I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
I say this to defend Western Australia: we now have a Labor Government. This Government has invested record amounts in the basic service needs of the community - health, education and police. It is not spending money on things like the belltower. It has cut expenditure on advertising, travel and consultancies, and it has frozen public transport concession fares and electricity prices. This Government has taken a different course of action from that of the previous Government, certainly in regard to public transport concession fares. In its budget it has applied the household model to taxes and charges to ensure that the overall impact of increases is less than the rate of inflation. Senator Vanstone’s press release on tax ignores one big tax with two big problems. The one big tax with the two big problems is the goods and services tax. The first problem is that it is not paying its way. Western Australia still needs top-up payments from the Commonwealth even though it has the GST, and it will be years before it reaches breakeven point with the pre-GST level. The second problem is that the GST impacts on the finances of low income earners. It is appalling hypocrisy for Senator Vanstone to attack State and Territory Governments for their tax impacts on low income earners when her Government brought in the worst tax of all for low income earners, which is the GST.
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