Page 1082 - Week 06 - Thursday, 27 July 1989
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houses; in Ainslie it has gone up 25.4 per cent; in Lyneham 39.9 per cent; in Garran 23.8 per cent; and in Hall 75 per cent.
To say that nobody is going to suffer a rates increase, or to obscure it behind the valuation change, is dishonest. It becomes, Mr Speaker, a question of: When is an election promise not an election promise? Now you see it, now you do not. Just as an attempt was made to obscure the increase in motor registration costs by hiding behind the reduction in compulsory insurance, so the Government is seeking to hide its rates increase behind the smokescreen of revaluation of the land.
Thirdly, Mr Speaker, I draw members' attention to the caveat now placed by the Chief Minister on the Government's general promise that individual and household taxation would not rise. At page 21 of the budget statement the Chief Minister now states:
Fees and charges...have generally been maintained at current real levels. However the Government feels that, in some cases, the introduction of a user pays principle is more appropriate.
This is a clear and unequivocal statement by the Chief Minister that her election promises were worthless and that individuals and households can now expect increases in fees, charges, taxes and rates after electing Labor representatives to this Assembly on the basis that this would not occur.
To refer specifically, Mr Speaker, to the recurrent budget, it is worthy of note, and a point on which the Chief Minister is to be congratulated, that the Government has finally realised the true situation in which the ACT finds itself financially. In her statement, the Chief Minister now acknowledges that there was no surplus on last year's budget to help tide the Government over this financial year.
She also notes that the outcome was in fact substantially as estimated. This is a long way from the statement made not long ago that there was surplus money in the budget which the Labor Party could use to fund its election promises. It represents a significant quantum leap in appreciation of the true situation.
The Chief Minister also acknowledges the need to take positive action to deal with the overexpenditures by the Commonwealth in the ACT. Under the Commonwealth Government's original undertaking to the ACT community we have only this year and the next to eliminate this over-expenditure, although there was originally a further Commonwealth undertaking to negotiate for two additional years.
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