Page 3206 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 September 1993
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I found her letter quite moving, Madam Speaker. It shows the real problems that many Canberrans are suffering. If you have a home oil heater, as many older Canberrans do, as well as many people in our Housing Trust houses, I understand, you will also pay more - up to $140 a year more. People who use diesel, the 250 or so rural lessees, will also pay more. Once again, I announce that the Liberal Party will oppose the increased tax on diesel fuel, which so greatly affects our rural constituency and those people with oil heaters. We will be voting against the budget initiative by voting against the Business Franchise (Tobacco and Petroleum Products) (Amendment) Bill 1993 when it again comes before this Assembly.
Unemployment is the greatest problem facing this city. What has Ms Follett done to improve the situation in this budget? Absolutely nothing. The Government predicts a decline of 400 in building jobs. That means that many of Canberra's blue-collar workers, supposedly those the Labor Party represents, will be hit, especially if the private sector is not able to pick up the tab. There is certainly nothing in this budget to give business the confidence to employ any more people.
There will be approximately 550 fewer public sector jobs, which remain untargeted. Try finding any specific references to such cuts in the budget papers. Where does Ms Follett really intend to make these cuts? Will it be teachers, nurses, bus drivers? Where will they be? It is clearly a case of dodge, duck and deceive. Fancy telling the community, as Ms Follett has done, that the redundancy packages have been set aside for people who want to "welcome the opportunity to change their career". What a gutless euphemism! Why does she not just say what she means? Why does she not just say that the reason she has not targeted the redundancies is that that would require a decision to be made. It would require Ms Follett to have some vision for the ACT public sector.
Business will pay more land tax. That means higher rents for lessees and higher prices at the cash register. Again, it is Mr and Mrs Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Gungahlin, all the people out there in Canberra, who will pick up the tab. It is not big business; it is the people at the end of the cash register who end up paying. Housing Trust tenants face higher rents. Potential Housing Trust tenants will have longer waits because the Government has decided to build fewer houses. Home buyers will face higher stamp duty, on top of the Federal tax increases of last month.
If you are late paying your rates, the Government will now slug you only 17 per cent. Thank you, Ms Follett. At least it is not 20 per cent. But interest rates are only 10 per cent, so the ACT Government is still profiteering from Canberrans who cannot afford to pay their rates on time. Every ACTEW account is tax for the Government. They are ripping another $5m out of ACTEW this year. That is $24.5m in all - on average, $250 for every household in the ACT. Now we know why ACTEW had to put up their charges. Fees for regulatory services, meaning tip fees and parking fees, will go up 36 per cent.
This Government is obviously full of kindness! They are increasing their revenue take by only 7.7 per cent. This is despite the fact that inflation now stands at 1.9 per cent and, by their own figures in the budget papers, they expect prices to increase by 3 per cent in the coming year and wages to increase by only 2.5 per cent. That means that normal, average people out there in Canberra will
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