Page 3480 - Week 11 - Thursday, 14 October 1993
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Mr De Domenico: What about diesel fuel?
MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, in relation to diesel, Mr De Domenico is saying that everyone will buy their diesel in New South Wales as opposed to the ACT. Anyone who follows Mr De Domenico's advice could be in big trouble. Anyone who is buying diesel in New South Wales for the ACT, taking advantage of the New South Wales tax exempt provisions, may be put in gaol by the New South Wales Government because they would be significantly breaching New South Wales taxation laws. If Mr De Domenico is urging that people run across the border and commit fraud on the New South Wales revenue office, which is typical, that is fine. They would also be committing an offence in the ACT. If Mr De Domenico is urging that people race across and try to use a taxation advantage in New South Wales which they are not entitled to, it is very foolish and irresponsible advice; but it is to be expected from the Liberal Party.
Madam Speaker, this populist, platitude-ridden pap that we get from the Opposition - "We do not like a tax, so we will abolish it"; $26m worth of revenue wiped from the floor - is just nonsense. It will be seen as nonsense by the public.
Mr De Domenico: Get real, mate. Come into the real world.
MR CONNOLLY: Mr De Domenico's interjection about getting into the real world is something that the Liberal Party should consider very seriously in their party room in the future, because this sort of populist nonsense will get them nowhere. Madam Speaker, we are unhappy about petrol prices in the ACT, as is the overwhelming majority of Canberra motorists. Through our strategy of getting independents into this market, which the Opposition opposes, we will start to see some market pressure here to get lower prices. When that happens I will be the first to remind the public that Mr De Domenico is opposed to what we are doing.
MR KAINE (11.37): Once in a while we get an interesting debate in this place, and this is one of them. We see Mr Connolly and the Chief Minister squirming because of the position they put themselves in. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. Mr Humphries made the point at the beginning. Consistently over the last four years the Chief Minister has said, "We will not put petrol tax on; not us, not the Labor Government. We will not do this. Those Liberals are the villains. They will put the petrol tax on". Where are we now? We have over 4c a litre on local petrol, all put on by this Government. We can argue about how it all happened, but every time somebody buys a litre of petrol in this town they are paying 4c a litre to this Government, and this is the Government that said, "We are not going to put taxes on petrol. Only that lot over on the other side would do that".
Now we have the double standard. We have Mr Connolly standing up and trying to defend his position. It was Mr Connolly who only a few months ago announced his intention to take on the petrol companies. "They are not going to do this to the Territory", said Mr Connolly; "We are going to enact legislation to stop them doing it, if we have to". Where today is the big brave Mr Connolly who sprang out there and said, "We are going to take on the oil companies and we are not going to allow this to happen in Canberra"? He is sitting over there and it has all happened. Where is his legislation? Why has he not done anything to stop this profiteering, if he considers it to be profiteering? He is the one who uses these words. He says that the oil companies and the retailers are profiteering, and they are ripping off the system in the ACT.
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