Thursday, 20 June 2024

Payroll tax

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:01): (985) My adjournment is for the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for the Labor government to stop the schools payroll tax on non-government schools. Many families and their school communities are being asked to pay for Labor’s financial mismanagement yet again, and through this they are using the government’s unfair schools tax. Starting from 1 July 2024, Labor’s schools tax is going to hamper Victorian families whose children attend non-government schools, with the government stripping the longstanding payroll tax exemption.

Up to 58 independent schools are educating, let us say, 65,000 students. They are having to pay the tax from July this year, with the number of targeted schools rising to almost 70 within five years, as they inevitably reach the arbitrary tax threshold of annual fees of $15,000. This $15,000 magic number is the number that the state government’s payroll tax is using to measure which non-government schools will have to pay the income tax per student. So this is what we are looking at, because the problem is, with the cost of everything going up, the number of schools is also going to increase. This is going to be extended until January 2029, and non-government schools are also going to be assessed annually.

We, the Liberals and the Nationals, wanted to exempt all schools from payroll tax, but the government voted against this because it is desperate to recoup costs. It is creating a class system in this state and in my electorate in the south-eastern region. With the net debt set to rise to $187.8 billion by 2027–28 and daily interest rate repayments alone to hit almost $26 million over the same period, this is just a blatant and dishonest cash grab affecting families who are already doing it tough. We have people in the south-eastern region that are struggling to pay their bills and struggling to feed their families, and they make sacrifices, in many cases, to send their kids to schools that they feel align with their values and with what they want for their children, the sort of education that they can give them. These are not wealthy people; these are people making sacrifices. Reports indicate that this cash grab will add $35 million to the government’s coffers, but why take this from our children? Families in Victoria should be able to choose the schools that they want for their children. This is going to limit scholarships, and it is going to disadvantage Indigenous opportunities in communities for private education, because they are going to have to cut something out. As we look at the situation in Victoria and in the south-eastern region, we have to consider whether this really is a fair tax on Victorians.

I am running out of time, but I just want to say as a former teacher I value education. Schools in the south-east are being affected, families are being affected, and I want to see this school tax gone.