Land Tax Assessment Amendment (Native Title Settlement Exemptions) Bill 2025
Second reading
Resumed from 26 June.
Ms Sandra Brewer (Cottesloe) (1:52 pm): I rise as the lead speaker for the opposition on the Land Tax Assessment Amendment (Native Title Settlement Exemptions) Bill 2025. It is not my intention to create uncertainty with regard to tax obligations for anyone in this state; hence, I do not wish to stand in the way of the progress of this bill. This bill exempts from land tax, for the 2025–26 assessment year, land transferred or granted under the South West Native Title Settlement, and creates a land tax exemption for land transferred or granted under any future native title settlement in WA.
Although the Noongar Boodja Trust was likely to gain charitable exemption from RevenueWA, this bill simplifies the matter and consequently reduces the ongoing administrative burden for this and any future cases. For perspective, I understand that under the South West settlement, "freehold land" includes 10,000 to 20,000 hectares of freehold land, 121 public housing properties and a two-hectare site for the Noongar cultural centre. Without this legislation, individual applications and assessments per parcel of land would have been required, and that is obviously far from necessary, which is why this bill is before us today. I note that transfer duty is already not payable on the currently affected lands, as provided under section 11 of the Land Administration (South West Native Title Settlement) Act 2016. Furthermore, a land tax exemption is consistent with tax exemptions offered in other jurisdictions, including New South Wales and the Commonwealth government, with income and capital gains tax exemptions for native title benefits.
The South West Native Title Settlement entered into with the Noongar people was a landmark achievement of the Barnett government. At the time, Colin Barnett described it as the most comprehensive native title agreement in Australian history. I recall from my professional experience representing Western Australian industry as an industry advocate that I would travel to meetings with my colleagues representing other states of Australia, and they were, quite frankly, astonished at the achievements of the Barnett government and how future-focused it was in delivering these native title settlements. The Minister for Finance in this Parliament reiterated this assertion in his second reading speech.
I am pleased that there is consensus in recognising the former Liberal–National government's legacy, nine years after the fact. Consequently, that means we are only three years away from the end of the 12-year transitionary period for the transfer of lands to the Noongar Boodja Trust. The minister also remarked on the several other native title settlement negotiations in Western Australia, on which I am hopeful agreement may be reached, just as the last Liberal–National government was able to deliver for 30,000 Noongar people across six Indigenous land use agreements, spanning up to 320,000 hectares of land—300,000 hectares of which will be retained for cultural purposes, and 20,000 hectares of which will be freehold for the benefit of the Noongar Boodja Trust, at the end of the $50 million annual support funding provided during the 12-year transition.
Another achievement of the parties on this side of the house is the fact that, under the Noongar (Koorah, Nitja, Boordahwan)(Past, Present, Future) Recognition Act 2016, Noongar traditional lands span over 55 of the 59 electorates represented in this place. Their history is our history, and we play a small part in honouring that by simplifying the burdens they have received with respect to land. It is consistent with my belief in smaller government that current and future land settlements shall not face the bureaucratic exemption applications and assessments that we know they are already entitled to, as this is one of the clearest cases of charitable use.
As I have mentioned before, I am hopeful that other negotiations may also reach agreement, such that Indigenous peoples across the rest of our great state shall have a similar opportunity to forge their own futures and create opportunities on their own land, like the Noongar Boodja Trust has. It is important that this bill leaves the automatic exemption open to future settlements, as well as settlement landholders that may not be mentioned in an Indigenous land use agreement. However, in order to accomplish the latter, the bill entrusts the minister to make recommendations for regulations prescribing additional persons for the purposes of the definition of "settlement landholder". I would like to put it on the record that I hope the minister uses this power responsibly and in a timely manner, such that these regulations may not be exploited for unfair advantage, that they maintain the integrity of the tax system, and that they ensure that the land is truly for charitable use. With that caveat aside, I will not take up any further time, and I commend this bill to the house.
Mr Lachlan Hunter (Central Wheatbelt) (1:58 pm): I rise today to contribute to debate on the Land Tax Assessment Amendment (Native Title Settlement Exemptions) Bill 2025. As the member for Cottesloe said, the historic South West Native Title Settlement is part of the proud history of Liberal–National governments. Three of those Indigenous land use agreements actually sit in my electorate of Central Wheatbelt, and it is something that we have worked very, very closely on. But we would say that beneath the technical framing lies a much deeper policy question around fairness, accountability and the role of this Parliament. It just shows that once again, this government has chosen to outsource a matter of principle to the bureaucracy—in this case, to RevenueWA. A tax collection agency has effectively been left to determine questions about tax exemptions and the charitable status of organisations, which is obviously not its role. These are not administrative matters; they are fundamental questions of tax policy, and that is where they belong. In this Parliament, we should be debating in full view of the people of Western Australia.
Debate adjourned, pursuant to standing orders.
