Page 4549 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 6 December 1994
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Mrs Carnell: The highest increase in Australia - a 34 per cent increase over three years.
MS FOLLETT: Mrs Carnell is going troppo again.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MS FOLLETT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have seen Mrs Carnell's press release on this matter this morning, and I have in my hand the Australian Bureau of Statistics document, which I presume she based her press release on. I would like to make it clear that, in looking at the Bureau of Statistics report on tax from all levels of government - taxes, fees and fines - the highest taxing State of all is, quite clearly, Victoria, by a long shot.
Mrs Carnell: Yes; because your mob stuffed up their finances.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mrs Carnell, the Chief Minister can answer the question by herself.
MS FOLLETT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The next highest taxing State is New South Wales. When last I looked, both of those States were under Liberal regimes; and, in one case, had been for some considerable time. A careful review of the document would also show that the ACT's taxes, fees and fines, per head of population, are well below the national average.
Mrs Carnell: Only because Victoria has a $100 budget deficit tax.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Mrs Carnell, you have not been asked the question; the Chief Minister has.
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, I take it as a very fine achievement indeed that this Territory is well below the national average, when we have had a massive cut in Commonwealth general revenue assistance, the like of which has never been seen before in the whole history of Federation. In fact, the cut in the Commonwealth general revenue grant to this Territory was of the order of 46 per cent; it was virtually halved. This Government has coped, in a measured way and in a way that has not adversely affected any one sector of the ACT community, with that massive reduction in Commonwealth revenue assistance.
At the same time, we have continued and improved our services to this Territory. We have also maintained our budget in balance, and we have not resorted to the kinds of borrowings that Mrs Carnell has implied. At the same time, we have made some changes to our tax regime to make it more equitable and more efficient. Some of those changes include the introduction of the stamp duty home buyer concession scheme, which is of great benefit to people on low incomes; the abolition of stamp duty on residential leases; a number of anti-avoidance measures for payroll tax and stamp duties; more recently, an increase in the payroll tax threshold, which will provide substantial relief to some 300 businesses; and, in addition, the lowering, and more recently the abolition, of the tax on low alcohol beer.
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