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Election Live: Premier to take a polygraph?

Mar 03, 2014

Check back here through the day for live updates from election campaign.

3.30pm Weatherill slams tax promise

Premier Jay Weatherill has slammed the Liberals’ promise to cut land tax (see 1.05pm entry below).

Weatherill said the promise was unfair to the “great majority of South Australians”.

“Land tax is only paid by people who own multiple properties,” he said. “This comes on top of promises on payroll tax and the transport development levy. Most South Australians only own one house, most businesses don’t pay payroll tax and most people don’t own a car park.”

Weatherill called on Liberal leader Steven Marshall to “come clean on the cuts all South Australians will suffer to meet these commitments”.

The stoush comes after the Premier made some significant spending commitments of his own. On the weekend he promised a $50 voucher for all primary school children to pay for sports club fees, at a budgeted cost of $7.7 million over four years.

1.05pm Land tax promise

Liberal Leader Steven Marshall has promised to reform the state’s land tax system – but it will only happen from 2016/17.

He says that in this year, the Liberals will:

  • Increase the base land tax threshold from $316,000 to $400,000;
  • Reduce the top land tax rate, from 3.7 per cent, to 3 per cent for “taxable land value of up to $5 million”; and,
  • “Develop a longer term land tax strategy to further improve the interstate competitiveness of our land tax regime.”

The cost of this policy to the budget in 2016-17 would be about $53 million, Marshall says. The Liberals estimate that 16,000 land tax payers would no longer be slugged that year as a result of the policy change.

 

11.30am The best election ad so far?

Independent candidate Gary Johanson has released the best election ad I’ve so far seen.
It’s images of Gary with various different expressions set to music. Gary wearing a hat… Gary standing next to a man in a kilt… Gary wearing a cap… Gary in a panama hat. I guess you could say the theme of the ad is hats.

I wonder if we’ll see @GaryJohanson4u‘s ad on TV? http://t.co/tefD5P7gzN #savotes

— Eugene Boisvert (@eugeneboisvert) March 3, 2014

 

11.16am Jay to take a lie detector test

Today Tonight reporter Frank Pangallo tweets the following:

What a development! Premier Jay agrees to do Today Tonight s polygraph Truth Test! pic.twitter.com/cZpLT0Pg6w

— Frank Pangallo (@FrankPangallo) March 3, 2014

 

Which is just going to add a further air of unreality as we slowly grind towards the last week of the poll. No word from Frank as to when the segment will get a run… nor on why a man in a penguin suit is pictured accepting the Premier’s $2000 cheque.

10.50am Defence High

The Heights School in Modbury will become a defence high school, Premier Jay Weatherill has just announced. Theoretically it will be known as ‘Defence High’ from now on.

From the press release:
Premier Jay Weatherill said a re-elected Labor Government would partner with the Defence Teaming Centre ina $2 million commitment to better integrate the state’s automotive capabilities intothe defence sector.
Labor will also work to turn The Heights School at Modbury Heights into a ‘Defence High School’ for specialist studies and industry programs relevant to a career in the state’s defence industry.

10.36am Tom Tweets

Premier Jay Weatherill laughed when radio satirists asked him why his minister Tom Koutsantonis was so angry all the time. Really, the answer is: nobody knows.
Kouts tweets this morning:

Only @IanHenschke would have a debate/discussion on @891adelaide about mining & not ask the Labor Party & its Mining Minister on. #savotes

— Tom Koutsantonis (@TKoutsantonisMP) March 2, 2014


and from last week

Biggest laugh of the night from Jay regarding the terrifying stare of @TKoutsantonisMP on @houseofreview

— Angus Randall (@angusrandall) February 27, 2014


9am Clipsal to become an election issue?

Both parties have made pledges on motor racing this election, but the Greens are approaching the subject from a different angle. In light of InDaily’s reporting on the concerns about the safety of women during the Clipsal 500 – read Lousie Pascale’s excellent first-person piece today – Greens MLC Tammy Franks (who unlike her peer Mark Parnell isn’t up for election this time round) has put out a media release this morning:

“The Greens have called on the Minister for the Status of Women to “listen to women’s voices” by urgently hosting a phone and email hotline on their Clipsal 500 experiences this past weekend. The call comes in response to a spokesperson for Minister for the Status of Women Gail Gago, last week dismissing any cultural connection between the Clipsal race and harassment of women. A claim made by the YWCA of Adelaide as a result of their ongoing work.”

8.30am Network Ten to come to SA election

Network 10’s breakfast flagship Studio 10 will be filming a live SA election special on polling day, Saturday March 15. So that’s one option for your election-night viewing.

8.05am The Weekend’s Polls

A big weekend in polling with a statewide Newspoll and an electorate-specific Galaxy Poll out.

Newspoll surveyed 1101 voters via phone and claims a sampling error of plus or minus three percent. But the problem for Labor is that, despite any sampling error, its results were remarkably consistent with other polls – 54-46 two-party-preferred to the Liberals.

As we draw nearer to polling day on the 15th the poll also reflects voter intention hardening with 55 per cent of survey respondents saying they’d made a final decision. Every day more voters will be making up their mind, making things more and more desperate for Labor while that lead remains unclosed.

Meanwhile a Galaxy Poll – 495 voters in the Colton electorate on the 27th of February – put sitting Labor member Paul Caica at 50-50, a reflection the Sunday Mail says of his good personal profile and perhaps a successful marginal seat sandbagging campaign from Labor.

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