Thursday, 22 February 2024

Taxation

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:35): My question is to the Treasurer. Last week –

Members interjecting.

Brad ROWSWELL: This one is a good one too, don’t worry. This one is a very good one. Last week I met with Rudi and Letty, the hardworking owners of Philmart Asian Groceries in Roxburgh Park in the Labor-held seat of Greenvale. He has been relegated. He is right around the corner.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Sandringham will be heard without assistance. The member for Sandringham to start his question from the beginning.

Brad ROWSWELL: My question is to the Treasurer. Last week I met with Rudi and Letty, the hardworking owners of Philmart Asian Groceries in Roxburgh Park in the Labor-held seat of Greenvale. Rudi and Letty may be forced to close their business because their rent has soared due to Labor’s land tax increases. Why is the Labor government slugging Victorian businesses with new taxes?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:37): I thank the member for Sandringham for his question. Can I be very clear that when this government produced its most recent budget we also identified what our COVID debt repayment strategy was. That is what responsible economic managers do: provide our balance sheet as a way of assisting businesses through a very difficult pandemic. $21 billion worth of assistance went directly to business, but ultimately of course we do need to recognise that as a state we have to ensure that that investment in the growth, the integrity and the stability of business is returned to the state. It has been returned in many ways through business itself.

How has it been returned? Well, we have the strongest business sector in the nation and the strongest jobs growth in the nation, and in effect we have just heard that we have the strongest business startup in the nation. So in practical terms the decision that we have made in terms of putting in a COVID debt repayment levy on land tax is targeted and it is temporary, but it is aimed to ensure that those with the capacity to make a contribution towards the repayment of funds we provided up-front to business throughout the trepidations of the pandemic are adequately responded to.

From our perspective as a government we have also gone to great lengths to make sure that we get the balance of tax and the burden of tax right. For example, we have progressively increased the payroll tax free threshold from $900,000 to $1 million. For the businesses in question, those who pay land tax will be the beneficiaries of our commercial and industrial land tax reforms, reforms that the Victorian chamber described in extremely positive terms. This is a government that is about reform, is about fairness and is about making sure that where we have the capacity to grow the state, to put in place appropriate measures to manage the burden of a society that expects and deserves good-quality services from the state government, we do that and that when we can change the tax mix to grow the economy we do so as well. I think the jury is well and truly in if you look at the fact that Victoria, through its taxing regimes, through its effort, is the strongest growing economy and is projected to be the strongest growing economy in the nation for the next five years by Deloitte Access Economics.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Member for South Barwon, you can leave the chamber for an hour.

Member for South Barwon withdrew from chamber.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:40): Labor’s taxes are driving Victorian businesses away. Will the Treasurer guarantee no new or increased taxes in the upcoming budget?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:41): I will not be drawn on what is in and what is not in the budget. Let me be very clear about that. That is my responsibility to deliver, and I will deliver it on budget day. But not only is the member for Sandringham statistically challenged – after all we have created six times more businesses than they did year on year in government – but he also does not listen to or learn from the efforts that this government has put in place. As you would appreciate, we have gone to great lengths to ensure that businesses are properly dealt with in a dynamic taxing environment, so we are abolishing business insurance duty to help businesses prepare for unforeseen business charges. That is more than $275 million worth of reduced costs over the next three years.