2600 2600ASSEM BLYI seek to be recognised from the seat of the Min- £[egwslte Assemblu ister for Health, and to have an officer scaled Wednesday, 17 June 1987 next to me. Leave granted. THE SPEAKER (Mr Barnett) took the Chair Debate Resumed at 2.1 5 pm. and read prayers. MR MacKINNON (Murdoch-Leader of the Opposition) [2. 18 pmn]: This Bill is allegedly DOG AMENDMENT BILL designed to stamp out stamp duty avoidance Objections:- Petition measures. The Bill does that in part. However, I am not sure that it does it in other parts, and I MR MacKINNON (Murdoch-Leader of will explain why in a moment. The Opposition the Opposition) (2. 16 pm]: I have a petition to supports the section of the Bill that refers to present to the Parliament in the following avoidance. However, there are other sections of terms- the legislation about which we have concern. To: The first concern must be the fact that this is The H-onourable the Speaker and Members a very complex piece of legislation, as admitted of the Legislative Assembly of the Parlia- by the Minister himself a moment ago. but it ment of Western Australia in Parliament was not circulated amongst the professions or assembled. the sections of industry it will affect until it was We. the undersigned request that the cur- presented to this Parliament. In other words. rent Bill to amend the Dog Act be sus- the people who will be affected-lawyers, ac- pended. pending a complete overhaul. countants, and commerce generally-did not Futhermore. we request that the matter of have any notice of the legislation until it was licensing people rather than dogs be introduced into the Parliament, and then they introduced and a suitable Dog Act be were consulted by the Opposition, not by the compiled incorporating acceptable regu- Government. I do not think that is very good in lations which do not contravene one's terms of any legislation, but more particularly basic Civil Liberties. legislation that, firstly, is designed to stamp out so-called avoidance and, secondly, is complex Your petitioners therefore humbly pray and could have a significant impact on com- that you will give this matter earnest con- mercial transactions within the community. sideration and your petitioners. as in duty Therefore the Opposition objects very bound, will every pray. strongly to the fact that the Government has The petition bears 978 signatures. and it con- introduced this legislation at a late stage of this forms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative part of the session-, and, More importantly, that Assembly. it introduced the legislation without any con- The SPEAKER:. I direct that the petition be sultation whatsoever with the private sector, to brought to the Table of the House. my knowledgc. I say that having consulted the Law Society of Western Australia. the (See petition No 42.) Australian Society of Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the LEAVE OF ABSENCE Western Australian Chamber of Commerce On motion by Mrs Buchanan, leave of ab- and Industry, the Confederation of Western sence for f ive weeks was granted to the member Australian Industry. and the Real Estate Insti- for Collie (Mr Tom Jones) and the member for tute of Western Australia. Not one of those Wclshpoot (Mr Thomas) on the ground of ur- bodies could indicate to me that it had pre- gent public business. vious knowledge of this legislation. The second point is that this, of course. STAMP AMENDMENT BILL places the Opposition in an extremely difficult Second Reading position. The Minister is a lawyer. I do not happen to be a lawyer and I do not have any Debate resumed from I I June. lawyers on my staff, nor any Crown Law De- partment officers. While the Government Point ofOrder offered us a briefing on the Bill, ii is difficult to Mr PETER DOWDING: Mr Speaker, in get a briefing until someone from outside who view of the technical nature of this Bill, I would understands the legislation gives one an mndi- [Wednesday. 17 June 1987]160 2601 cation of the areas to which one should pay As though the current Government had not attention. For example, the Law Society was involved itself in increasing the incidence of sent a copy of this Bill the day after it was stamp duties as it affects all individuals in our introduced into this House, and I have received community! Bearing those statements in mind, its advice today-in fact, as I walked into the it is worth reminding ourselves of what the Parliament. So again, given that the announce- Treasurer had to say when he introduced his ment in relation to this legislation was made on first Budget into this Parliament in 1983. Again 13 January. I find it extremely difficult to I quote the Treasurer's exact words- understand why we are now dealing with such a complex matter in such a rushed and unnecess- The rates of stamp duty in Western ary way. I will point out the implications of Australia are generally significantly lower that in a moment. than those applying in the other States. It is proposed to increase a number of these We are concerned because we believe the rates to bring them more into line with Government should, even at this late stage, de- those applying elsewhere in Australia. lay the legislation until tomorrow or Friday-I assume we will sit on Friday-so that people He then went on to outline a couple of areas within the community who have a real interest where the rates were increased. For example, in in this legislation can have a further look at it. that budget, stamp duty on mortgages and on In fact, the Law Society has asked us to make other fixed-term securities increased from 15 such a request to the Minister. per cent on $ 100 to 25 per cent on $100-a 67 Why do people now want to avoid stamp per cent increase. Clearly that 67 per cent had duty? Why is there a greater preponderance of nothing to do with the level of economic activ- avoidance today than occurred a few years ago? ity; it had everything to do with the activities of Is it because people are more dishonest today the Treasurer in his increasing those charges. In than they were 10 or 20 years ago? I do not that same Budget the Treasurer also increased think so. Is it because they employ sharper or the rate of stamp duty on motor vehicle regis- more intelligent lawyers? I do not think so.' I trations. The rate current at that time was think the reason is that stamp duty rates now $1.50 per $100 and it was increased to $3 per are at a level which encourages avoidance. As $ 100. So in his very first Budget, motor vehicle members will know, it is the same with income It.cence registration and transfer fees were Lax. The only reason for the explosion i n in- increased by 100 per cent, and stamp duty on come tax avoidance dating back about 10 or 12 mortgages by 67 per cent. Therefore the years-and the Minister has a fairly intimate Treasurer himself, by his actions, has knowledge of those procedures-was that there contributed quite significantly to the incentives was a high incidence of income tax. That sort that have been given to people within the com- of creative accounting arrangement is still munity to engage in tax avoidance practices. prevalent in our society today, and that is why Before the Minister or anybody else in this the Federal Income Tax Assessment Act is House misquotes me, I hasten to add that I do amended regularly, and why we are seeing the not agree with those avoidance activities. All I Stamp Act in this State being amended with much greater regularity than has been the case am saying is that the present Government, by its actions, has provided a much greater incen- in the past. tive for people to undertake those activities. When looking at the incidence of stamp duty it is worth reminding ourselves of the Govern- A large part of this Bill has to do with con- ment's performance in that regard, and of the veyancing, and conveyancing fees were Treasurer's comments only a fewdays ago, on increased by an average across the board of 25 19 May. When talking about taxation and per cent at the same time; that is, in the stamp duty he said that there is currently- Treasurer's first Budget. So the incentive for people to engage and involve themselves in .a boom in the housing industry- avoidance of stamp duty has increased quite then there is naturally a massive increase significantly since this Government came to in revenue collected fronrfstamp duty. power. The Treasurer then went on to say- I turn now to the Bill itself. Specifically I However, that does not indicate that would like the Minister to address himself to a there is any increase in the rate of stamp few questions in his response to my contri- duty levied on individuals. bution. 2602 2602[ASSEMBLY] Firstly, the Minister for Budget Manage- avoidance measure the Government has not ment's statement was issued on 13 January had the time or the decency to give it the pri- 1987. Within that statement the Minister said ority it deserves. that the new provisions would apply to all transactions from that day. Why is it then that The second question is: Why the delay? Why the Bill indicates that restrospectivity will ap- are we now debating, in the dying days of Par- ply from 19 January? The Minister's statement Sia me nt, such an i mporta nt piece of legislat ion? was issued on 13 January and it was clearly Mr Speaker, Lest you and other members think indicated that the provision would apply from that I am expressing only my concerns, I that date, yet the retrospeclivity dates from 19 outline to the House some comments made by January.