Page 4071 - Week 13 - Thursday, 10 November 1994

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Let me read from a wonderful little newspaper called Direct Democracy that we put out. On the back it lists some taxes that have been introduced or that have gone up, many of them again and again. Let me read a few of them:

. Petrol tax introduced

. New 1 per cent tax on rental properties

. Bank account tax introduced

. Police service fees introduced

. Vehicle inspection fee introduced

. Business licence fees introduced

. Assembly costs of over $30m

. Business tip charges introduced

. Betterment tax increased

. Business franchise fees increased

. Cigarette/alcohol taxes up

You might wonder what cigarette and alcohol taxes have to do with small business. You try to run one and you will spend a lot of money on cigarettes and alcohol. The list goes on:

. Parking fees increased - - -

Ms Follett: What about petrol prices down?

MR STEVENSON: Petrol prices are down, we are told. The list goes on:

. Driver's licence fees up

. Payroll tax increased

. Electricity rates up

. Building charges rocket

. Business lease stamp-duty up

. Parking fines up

. Business start-up fees increased

. Business training costs increased

. Water rates up

. Fire and police information service charges introduced.

These are just the ones that concern small business, not ones that concern householders or others. Under this tremendous weight, businesses are trying to battle in a business environment made very difficult by the Federal Government. It has been said that if you want to get involved in a small business in the ACT you buy a large one and wait.

Yesterday I mentioned farm vehicle registration concessions. There used to be a concession in the ACT. I believe that one exists in every other State and Territory in Australia. It has been suggested to me that one of the reasons the concession was stopped here is that some farmers were taking advantage of it and using their registered farm vehicles for normal household use. But the truth of the matter - and I gave a couple

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