BankSA has backed out of a post-budget lunch sponsorship after the government revealed its plan to whack banks with a super tax.
The bank was sponsoring a VIP function at the Progressive Business lunch on Friday, but has quickly pulled its support.
Following the state budget’s release on Thursday, BankSA chief executive Nick Reade said the bank tax was a “disgrace”:
“Today’s announcement in SA is not only bad public and economic policy, it is not in the interests of South Australians. This distortionary policy could influence decisions banks make about investments in SA,” he said.
“We were disappointed by the Federal Government bank levy, but the SA proposal is double taxation and is a disgrace. The South Australian economy faces challenges but populism will not deliver the robust and sustainable economy South Australians deserve. As we have previously noted, there is no ‘magic pudding’.’’
Having previously unveiled a similar tax in the federal budget, PM Malcolm Turnbull criticised the state Labor government move:
“That’s one thing to have a tax that covers the whole country, but when a state imposes higher business taxes within its own jurisdiction, is that going to drive investment, support, jobs within that state or is in fact going to make it less competitive?”
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