4 February 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:10): It is nice to be back. I rise to speak briefly on the budget measures bill of 2024 and to indicate where the Greens sit on some of the filed amendments. As is the case each year, this bill is the legislative companion to the government's budget. Some of the measures contained in the bill are positive measures that will support South Australians. In particular, the Greens are supportive of removing stamp duty for eligible first-home buyers on the purchase of a new home on vacant land and removing the value cap for the First Home Owner Grant for eligible contracts.
I recognise that these measures will support some people who are trying to enter the housing market, but of course we know that this is only rewarding those South Australians who are lucky enough to be able to purchase their own home. It does not do anything to address the broader issues that we face around housing affordability in our state. I have a bill before parliament that would increase the requirement on developers to build more social and affordable housing, lifting the requirement from just 15 per cent to 30 per cent, significantly boosting the availability of affordable housing and social housing in our state. I urge the Labor Party to support that.
We also need to see action for renters in this budget. The Greens have been campaigning for a long time to extend the Cost of Living Concession to renters. I acknowledge the Malinauskas government's leadership in doing that in the last budget, but we need to see the government go further in terms of providing support to renters who are struggling. We need a rent freeze. The Greens have been campaigning for this for some time. We know that a freeze of rents, if it had been instituted last year when the Greens first proposed it, would have saved South Australians thousands and thousands of dollars in rent.
It is not okay that we have some South Australians who are making a motza, some landlords who are making record profits, and rent prices continue to skyrocket while other South Australians are continuing to struggle to make ends meet and to be able to provide a home for their family. Renting is not a choice for most South Australians—it is the only option that they have—and housing is a fundamental human right. So I am disappointed that there has not been action on the circumstances that renters face within this bill.
I do recognise that the government has taken some action on payroll tax for GPs. It is an issue that the Greens, along with the Hon. Connie Bonaros and other members in this place, were very active on last year. We do call, however, for the government to extend that exemption in the regulations to practitioners such as physiotherapists and dentists, who are being affected in the same way as GPs. This comes after the New South Wales Supreme Court decision that found that tenant GPs, who pay a percentage of their earnings to a clinic rather than being paid a wage, count as employees for payroll tax purposes.
We will be supporting this bill on the basis that there is some positive change in that regard, and of course we support the budget measures bill as is the convention in terms of enabling the activities of the government. I am also disappointed, in terms of talking about health, that there was no action on ambulance call-out fees. The Greens made a submission to the government. We called on them to slash those fees and to bring South Australia into line with other states. Again, there is no action.
I just want to touch on the Liberals harping about debt. I think it is fair to say that some of their critique is disingenuous. They were in government, as we know, for that brief period when the Treasurer, Rob Lucas, handed down an enormous deficit. I make no criticism of that because he was dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and I think it was right that the Marshall government provided support to some South Australians who were struggling. So I make absolutely no criticism of that, but to then come into this chamber years later and start banging on about debt is, I think, a bit rich, given the circumstances that every state government and every government has faced nationally as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Liberals talk about debt in their budget response, but they have no plan to deal with it other than cutting public services, which they say is not on the cards. They say they do not want to privatise public services either, which is good, but then I do not see how they are going to plug the debt. They talk about cost-of-living relief, but then when honourable members put forward suggestions for dealing with cost of living, they are vehemently opposed to them. So I do not know what exactly their approach is. I am none the wiser in terms of how they would do things differently. Maybe between now and the election they will actually outline a vision to the people of South Australia.
In terms of some of the amendments that have been filed on this bill, I note the Hon. Frank Pangallo has filed an amendment in relation to stamp duty. The Greens do not support the Hon. Frank Pangallo's amendment and I have indicated to the honourable member my reasons for that. Whilst we want to reform stamp duty, we do not believe this should be done as a standalone measure. To do so would blow a huge hole in the budget and not actually address housing affordability, unless it is accompanied by action on land tax. Indeed, I am very open to looking at what we can do in that space and whether there is a more equitable way that we can approach land tax and then reduce stamp duty.
So let's keep that conversation going, but we will not be supporting the Hon. Frank Pangallo's amendment on the basis that it really pulls the rug out in terms of taking action where it is needed. I also note the amendment from the Hon. Connie Bonaros. I do understand her sentiments in relation to that, but we will not be supporting the Hon. Connie Bonaros's amendment in this instance. I am keen to see, after many months, some movement on this bill. Rest assured, the Greens will be out there in the community talking about our alternative vision in terms of dealing with cost of living, and we hope that the government will take up some of those ideas when it comes to crafting their next budget.