Page 2335 - Week 08 - Friday, 21 June 1991
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MR HUMPHRIES (7.32): Mr Speaker, as other speakers have mentioned, these Bills are Bills which would have been put forward by the Alliance Government.
Mr Wood: The CPI increase?
MR HUMPHRIES: I believe so, Mr Speaker, in answer to Mr Wood's interjection. I think that there would have been increases very similar to those that are being put forward in this Bill. Certainly, the general principle of CPI increases is obviously desirable. In the case of the operation of the Rates and Land Tax (Amendment) Bill (No. 2), some householders will experience increases in their rates quite considerably in excess of the CPI. That, of course, is a direct reflection of the fact that the unimproved value of their land has risen quite considerably since the last rating occurred. That is unfortunate.
Undoubtedly, Mr Speaker, there will be letters in the newspaper from irate residents of some suburbs, saying that it is outrageous that their rates should rise by so much. Others, I hope, will reflect carefully on the fact that the increased value of their land is in fact a benefit of sorts to them in any case, and that therefore the fact that the rates have also risen is only a reflection of the additional value of the asset that they now own. However, Mr Speaker, those things are inevitable, and I think we should acknowledge that the general principle behind this legislation is appropriate and ought to be supported.
It is also appropriate that the increases in rates that will occur in future under the second of the two Bills being discussed tonight will be annual rather than triennial. That is one way of mitigating the effect of having increases of 25 per cent or more in any one year. I believe that that will provide some relief from the suddenness, in future years, of rates increases. Of course, it will also mean that the Government is able to take advantage of those increases sooner rather than later.
Mr Speaker, it is very hard to criticise any revenue measures in the present environment. My party, the Liberal Party, would be very prepared to support, as I have made quite clear already, measures of this kind which are tough but fair. I believe that the package of legislation that has come to us tonight falls into that category. It does meet the growing needs of the ACT and the fact that the ACT has an annual increase in its costs by virtue of the CPI. The ACT needs to meet those annual increases and, as a result, it needs to consider increases in the rates that it collects.
Mr Speaker, as I mentioned, these are Bills which would have otherwise been brought forward by the Alliance Government. Therefore, it behoves us to support them, and we do so gladly.
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