Independent Senator Nick Xenophon might vote against company tax cuts, seeks referendum on nuclear waste dump

INDEPENDENT Senator Nick Xenophon wants a referendum to decide whether South Australia should be home to a nuclear waste dump.

South Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has left the door open to blocking some company tax cuts in the Senate if the Liberal Government is re-elected.

INDEPENDENT Senator Nick Xenophon wants a referendum to decide whether South Australia should be home to a nuclear waste dump.

He has also left the door open to blocking some company tax cuts in the Senate if the Government is re-elected.

After a South Australian Press Club election debate on Thursday, he told The Advertiser that a waste dump referendum should happen once a location was decided.

“The people of SA should have a direct say on it,” he said. If the state referendum passed, it is likely the federal Parliament would pass the legislation needed at that level.

Senator Xenophon also said MPs in his Nick Xenophon Team would consult residents in their electorates in the unlikely event they won the balance of power in a hung parliament and had to pick the party to form government.

Senator Xenophon, left, Educa­tion Minister Simon Birmingham, Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young took part in yesterday’s election debate.

Senator Xenophon also said he agreed with the Government that companies with a turnover of up to $10 million deserved a tax cut.

But he refused to back Government plans for tax cuts to be progressively extended to larger firms. “The question is about whether that would be the best way for Commonwealth money to be spent,’’ Senator Xenophon said.

Asked about his approach if the NXT held the balance of power in the House of Representatives after the election, Senator Xenophon said there was only a million-to-one chance of that occurring.

He said NXT MPs would need to consult their constituents on whether to back Malcolm Turnbull or Bill Shorten as prime minister.

“They would get feedback from the electorate, they would have town hall meetings, and they would sit down and talk to their electorate and also see what the major parties had to offer,’’ he said.

In a wide-ranging debate, Senator Birmingham focused on the Government’s plans to create new jobs in SA, including through international trade deals. Senator Wong attacked the Government for cutting education funding.

“They are cuts that are being delivered to South Australians by South Australians — the Liberals’ Christopher Pyne and Simon Birmingham,’’ Senator Wong said.

Senator Hanson-Young said the Government’s promise to build 12 submarines in Adelaide was not a “magic ­bullet’’ for creating jobs. She called for more investment in education and health services.