Treasurer Rob Lucas ‘slandered me over land tax’: Builder Scott Salisbury
A renowned Adelaide builder has accused Treasurer Rob Lucas of slandering him over land tax proposals — and warns the Liberal Party may be a one-term government that faces a decade in opposition.
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One of the state’s biggest home builders warns the Marshall Government faces having just one term in power, then gifting Labor a war chest for a decade in office, as he argues against land tax changes.
Scott Salisbury, managing director of Scott Salisbury Homes, also accuses Treasurer Rob Lucas of slander in a widely circulated email seen by The Advertiser.
He claims Mr Lucas is privately telling powerful interests that Mr Salisbury supports the reforms, which will reap an estimated $118 million by preventing property investors from minimising land tax through trusts and other legal devices.
“Lucas and/or his office are spruiking that I am happy with this tax, that is slander,” he writes.
Mr Lucas told The Advertiser that he had mentioned Mr Salisbury as one of three builders who may be warming to the updated reforms during a private briefing with the Master Builders Association.
“If that information was incorrect I am happy to apologise to Mr Salisbury for misquoting him. If he still opposes the reforms I accept that is his position,” Mr Lucas said.
Mr Salisbury’s incendiary email says his $117,000 bill is set to treble and in a scathing assessment warns the Liberals face a decade in opposition as supporters desert the party.
Revelation of his remarks comes as Labor leader Peter Malinauskas, who is yet to come to a position on the tax, holds a public forum on the issue on Monday night.
Mr Salisbury notes in the email he has spent “hundreds of thousand of dollars setting up perfectly legal entities to run my business responsibly and now that is wasted.”
“You should be aware of the pressure builders are under at this time with record insolvencies. If this tax is approved there will be many more, the Liberal Party will be responsible for these collapses.”
He adds the Liberal policy is a “self-destructive strategy”.
“I would expect that if passed, the Liberal Party will lose the next election and hand the Labor Party a significant revenue improvement. That would make them very popular when they inject that back into the economy and take the credit.
“They will then look like the financially savvy party, so I would expect the Liberal Party to be out of government for at least a decade.”
His solution is to allow land owners at least three years for market values to increase to help recoup the cost of the tax.
Mr Salisbury confirmed the email’s authenticity to The Advertiser yesterday and stood by its contents, saying he did not support the reforms.