The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has congratulated Premier-elect Steven Marshall on securing a majority government in South Australia, and urged him to include tax reform among his priorities, saying “there's no time to waste.”
“South Australia’s stamp duties add 11% to the price householders and vehicle owners pay for their insurance,” ICA CEO Rob Whelan said. “These duties are unfair, inefficient, and inequitable. They discourage South Australians from taking out the right level of insurance, and for some, the stamp duties may mean a household decides to forgo insurance altogether.”
The insurance body said the Marshall government should “be courageous in axeing stamp duties on insurance,” and follow ACT’s lead, “where insurance duties were gradually removed over five years.”
“Studies show that removing the burden of these duties will improve SA’s economic performance by several hundred million dollars, even more so if all states and territories agree to act similarly,” Whelan said.
The ICA boss said insurers were looking forward to working with the new government on reform measures and on identifying vulnerable communities in need of investments in mitigation.
