Page 545 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 1993
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It will increase unemployment, as it did in Canada. It will impose more costs on business. It will cost $4,000 to set up the process in a small business, and $6,000 a year to look after it. Then, of course, we have the situation in Victoria, where Kennett has increased his redundancy money to $1 billion. So there are more people that the Liberals are going to throw on the scrap heap. They are going to be thrown on the scrap heap and we are going to have more unemployment.
Mr De Domenico: No. They are voluntary redundancies. Tell the whole truth.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Domenico, that is enough.
MR BERRY: I think he ought to withdraw that.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Domenico, to ask someone to tell the whole truth has an unfortunate imputation of impropriety on Mr Berry's part. Would you please withdraw it.
Mr De Domenico: I withdraw it, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr De Domenico. Let us have a bit of order.
MR BERRY: I am a good winner. I am not going to grizzle about that. Nasty taxes of 15 per cent on almost everything you buy will not solve unemployment. Just ask the former conservative Prime Minister.
Mr Westende: I am now paying 20 per cent.
MR BERRY: You can afford to pay them. Why should you not pay them if you can afford it? That is good. Those who do best out of the community should pay more. That is quite - - -
Mr Kaine: You should be paying more in that case.
MR BERRY: I do not mind paying my taxes; I like it. The GST in Canada - - -
Mr Kaine: But you should be paying more. You are not paying enough.
MR BERRY: You cannot understand that sort of mentality. I believe in paying high taxes. If you are earning money, pay the tax. You are doing better; pay more tax. The GST in Canada was lower than the 15 per cent promised by the Liberals, yet the cost to business was excessive and helped lead to high unemployment.
Here in the ACT, without a GST, the Federal and local governments have many projects to create jobs. Commonwealth Government initiatives include, firstly, employment creation in the ACT construction industry, such as the commencement of the York Park project, the refurbishment of Scarborough House, the construction of a regional office for the Australian Taxation Office in Belconnen, and the construction of a display and storage centre for the Australian War Memorial at Mitchell. These will boost employment in Canberra by about 2,000 jobs in construction and that will also spread to other industries. They will enable the construction industry to have a much more stable base in Canberra and will provide good medium-term prospects for the construction industry.
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