Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was delighted to hear my good friend the member for Swan speaking about fiscal equalisation. I agree with you, Member for Swan, that we should get more in Western Australia. However, Western Australia is still the highest taxing state in Australia. In fact, it reaped a record $5.2 billion in tax in the last financial year. The Western Australian government has also benefited from the most incredible mining boom, collecting more revenue from royalties than any other state. In the last financial year it reaped around $1.8 billion, and it is expected to receive around $2.2 billion this year.

Since the introduction of the GST in 2000-01, Western Australia has received around $18.4 billion in GST revenue, and it is estimated to receive a further $3.9 billion this year. With other Australian government payments, the Western Australian state government will receive an estimated $7.4 billion, an increase of five per cent compared to the last financial year. In spite of all this revenue and the Western Australian Labor government’s fat $2.26 billion budget surplus, there is no immediate tax relief being offered. There are three areas of taxation where immediate tax relief is needed: payroll tax; stamp duty on property and cars; and mortgage duty, rental duty and non-real conveyance duty, which should be abolished immediately, as agreed to in the GST agreement.

Payroll tax receipts in the last financial year soared by $113 million to $1.35 billion. Our low levels of unemployment have seen an increase in demand for skilled tradespeople. Many businesses in Western Australia have found that they have needed to increase their rates of pay to attract and retain skilled employees. This has added considerably to the payroll tax burden for these businesses.

Property related stamp duty increased from the previous year by a whopping $682 million to $2.1 billion. Western Australia’s booming property market has seen the median house price rise to $420,000, which attracts $16,700 in stamp duty. In 2001, when Labor came into power, Western Australian homebuyers were paying $4,720 in stamp duty for a median priced home. The tax-free threshold for first home buyers needs to be increased from $250,000 to at least $400,000. The cost of this would be around $45 million. This could even be funded from the $150 million in annual interest being saved after using surpluses to reduce state debt.

Stamp duty on cars also needs to be reviewed. Motor vehicle taxes rose by $94 million to $736 million. Most businesses purchasing cars in Western Australia buy vehicles which cost more than $30,000, which means they are subject to the highest stamp duty rates in Australia. This means that the cost of doing business in Western Australia, particularly for large fleet customers, can be extremely high and can make them uncompetitive with the eastern states. It also needs to be considered that in the rental vehicle business the cost of stamp duty in Western Australia is being passed on to customers. In a state where many tourist destinations rely on rental vehicles, this must have some effect on our tourist industry.

Western Australia is considerably better off due to the federal government’s tax reforms. Every Australian knew the GST was introduced to replace a range of inefficient state taxes, and clearly Western Australia is in a position to remove those taxes. Western Australia has made little progress, with the abolition of a few stamp duties that represent only five per cent of its stamp duty revenue. The Western Australian government needs to immediately abolish the remaining stamp duties that were agreed to be abolished in the GST agreement—namely, mortgage duty, rental duty and non-real conveyance duty.

The Western Australian government must stop overtaxing Western Australians to build their own election war chest. They need to do what they were elected to do and refocus their thoughts on to helping small business owners and those who, under the current tax regime, can only dream of owning their own home.

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