Page 5423 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 3 December 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
In Canberra there are only 1,800 motorcycles in the over 600cc category, out of a total of 4,700 bikes. It appears that by slugging the owners of 1,800 large motorbikes the Government has attempted to choose an easy target and gain an extra $90,000 in revenue without losing too many votes at the next election. What they have succeeded in doing, however, is to put all those motorcycle owners offside.
The Government will say that this was one of the charges which the Alliance Government was going to impose.
Mr Connolly: You bet we will say that.
MR STEFANIAK: Yes, indeed they will, and that may be so. That was pointed out quite - - -
Mr Connolly: It was all right then, but now you think there are a few votes in it.
MR STEFANIAK: Rubbish, Mr Connolly! The problem was pointed out to the former Alliance Government members, the former Treasurer and me included. Certainly, as far as the Liberal Party was concerned, the iniquity of what was proposed, be it under the Alliance Government or yours, was seen. We reviewed a decision initially taken by the Alliance Government that saw it as quite iniquitous. This motion for disallowance is moved as a result of our investigation of the matter.
Let us look at the facts, Mr Speaker. Why should a small number of people carry a massive increase in costs - 156 per cent for large bikes, as opposed to 34 per cent for small bikes, and 23 per cent for motor cars? For the negligible impost of only $1 on every motor car, the Government could have kept the increase on large bikes at 34 per cent, which would still have been larger than the increase for cars. By doing that, they could have increased revenue by $140,000 and caused no backlash at all.
It appears that they did not do their sums very accurately. We pointed that out to them when Mr Connolly said that he was reviewing the fee. If they charged an extra $1 for every car, they would have had an extra $50,000. They certainly would not have cost themselves votes for continuing this ridiculous increase for large motorbikes when the iniquity of it was pointed out to them.
The owners of the large bikes are not simply whingeing that their costs have increased. The biggest stumbling block is the extra $50 levy that has been lumped on to that small group of people for no valid reason. I say $50, Mr Speaker, because for smaller bikes the fee went up from $41 to $55. We are saying that something around $55 would certainly be more realistic. Mr Connolly has alleged that that fee increase is linked to the Government's road safety strategy and that it has tried to create a disincentive for motorcycle riders to ride large machines.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .