Labor insulted high-taxed NSW businesses today by labelling proposed payroll tax cuts for small businesses in NSW as ‘appallingly useless’, and gagged a vote on the NSW Liberal/Nationals payroll tax reduction bill to avert the spectacle of Labor voting against much needed state tax cuts. 

"Every Labor MP voted down this debate.  Labor is opposed to payroll tax cuts," said Shadow Minister for Finance Peta Seaton.

"Small Business Minister David Campbell must apologise to the businesses of NSW, and his Labor colleagues and candidates must dis-endorse his insult to high taxed NSW businesses who are struggling to compete with other better performing states," she said.

With the highest mainland jobless rate, the slowest economic growth, and high regional unemployment in particular, now is the time to support state-wide comprehensive payroll tax cuts, including:
-    raising the payroll tax threshold to $850,000, so we can better compete with Queensland
-    exempting around 4,500 businesses from having to pay any payroll tax
-    reducing the tax paid by remaining payroll tax payers.

Ms Seaton said the payroll tax cuts are an essential plank of the NSW Liberal/Nationals Economic Rescue Plan for NSW, cutting business taxes and creating investment and jobs.

"This legislation would see businesses given $282 million in tax relief immediately – which many business owners say would let them take on more staff, or invest in growing their business," she said.

"It would give them an even break in competing against Queensland and Victoria, especially in border regions, but across the state.

“Labor members for the Illawarra and South Western Sydney including Matt Brown, Jeff Corrigan, Paul McLeay, and Noreen Hay must explain whey they oppose these significant payroll tax cuts and the jobs that would be created as a result”, she said.

''It's Labor's high taxing Ministers and the Premier who are imposing 'appalling useless' tax and regulation burdens on NSW businesses," Ms Seaton said.