Tax cuts head business agenda

The major political parties have been challenged by Western Australia’s peak business group to pursue reforms necessary to ensure continued strong economic growth.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry said neither Labor nor the Coalition had provided any real detail on how they would go about managing the economy and encouraging investment.

“Business will want to know how they propose to approach the key issues and what kind of environment business in WA could expect to operate in during the next four years,” CCI chief executive John Langoulant said.

The CCI has also sought to up the ante on the tax debate by specifying the changes that should be introduced after the State election.

Its push for tax reform follows substantial increases in tax rates and total tax collections over the past few years.

With Premier Geoff Gallop apologising for his latest tax increases and both major parties now pledging to reduce taxes where possible, CCI has gone a step further and outlined specific changes.

It says the payroll tax rate should be cut to 5 per cent, following recent reductions from 6 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

Notably, the CCI wants the next government to stick with a single rate of payroll tax.

Opposition leader Colin Barnett wants payroll tax changes that favour small business, which could only be achieved by reintroducing multiple rates or lifting the tax threshold.

Other tax changes backed by the CCI include reducing the number of conveyance duty rates, cutting the average rate of conveyance duty by 15 per cent, abolishing mortgage duty, indexing tax thresholds and applying a single rate of land tax to all taxable property.

It calls on the major parties to also show spending restraint and maintain budget surpluses.

CCI singled out Labor’s industrial relations policies as an area of particular concern, saying they have reduced business flexibility and driven employers to the Federal system.

It also believes the Government’s “impotence” in the industrial relations arena is largely to blame for WA’s increased level of industrial disputes, which it says are the worst of any state and “well above” the national average.

“Since its election in 2002, the government has illustrated its pro-union stance through a range of actions, including bare-faced tolerance of union misbehaviour,” CCI policy director Bruce Williams said.

The opposition gets a pat on the back for its planned industrial relation reforms, which include reintroducing flexible individual workplace agreements.

However CCI has “qualms” with the Coalition’s record on competition policy – including its stance on electricity reform and its opposition to deregulation of trading hours – and the need for further economic reform.

“CCI looks forward to policy pronouncements from both sides that address these concerns,” Mr Langoulant said.

In the area of industry development, it calls for a concise statement that aims to create an overall environment for business success without ‘picking winners’.

Specifically, CCI says project approvals should be simple and timely and licencing arrangements streamlined.

This has been a focus for the Gallop Government, which recently announced plans to spend $13.2 million over the next four years to fast-track approvals for major projects. However, this move followed a protracted review process that tested the patience of industry groups such as the Chamber of Minerals and Energy.

Effective, reliable and cost-effective provision of infrastructure such as transport, water and energy is seen by the CCI as essential.

In the area of industrial relations, CCI says the next government should reintroduce a workable system of fair individual and collective agreements “that has primacy over awards and does not favour union dominance or control”.

As part of this system, a scheme should be legislated establishing minimum conditions of employment and removing the WA Industrial Relation Commission’s power to issue general orders on such matters.

The CCI also wants a crackdown on the kind of militancy practiced by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

It says unions’ right of entry for discussions with employees should be removed, and ‘industrial matters’ redefined to mean matters about the relationship between the employer and employee, other than safety matters.

CCI’S TOP PRIORITIES

• Reduce taxation.
• Maintain budget surplus.
• Flexible industrial relations.
• Industry development focus.
• Better infrastructure.
• Lift training and skills development.