Page 4807 - Week 15 - Thursday, 8 December 1994
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as to who may get funding for any support services; whether it would be CARTA, whether it would be the Small Business Association, or whether, as we did in the case of residential tenancies, we would fund the tenants advice service that is not owned by one or the other of the particular interest groups. The issue of disseminating information on that very important, indeed landmark, piece of law reform is an issue that we will be addressing.
That whole exercise of the commercial tenancies package exemplifies this Labor Government's approach to law reform. We tackled an issue that for 20 years this Assembly and its predecessors had been trying to tackle. We brought forward a package that was stronger than anything existing anywhere else in Australia. We did it in a way that brought together, at the end of the day, a fairly general consensus, and we had the major commercial interests at least accepting the package as well as the tenants saying that it was a very strong package. Our approach to law reform is careful, considered and well thought out, as opposed to the slap-dash, opportunistic Opposition which sits permanently on that side of the house.
Betterment Tax
MR CORNWELL: My question without notice is to the Chief Minister. During the last three years of your Government, Chief Minister, receipts from betterment tax have fallen from $7.985m to only $3.4m, which is a decrease of approximately 57 per cent. Does this decrease demonstrate, once and for all, that your policy of 100 per cent betterment on commercial properties has been a dismal failure?
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, the answer is no. How can this be, Mr Cornwell? If you are asking - - -
Mr Kaine: Will you agree that it is a failure when it gets to zero?
Mr Cornwell: It has fallen by 57 per cent.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Let the Chief Minister answer the question.
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, questions on betterment are probably better directed to my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning; but I can say that, in common with the rest of Australia, this Territory has been through a recession. During that period there has not been an enormous amount of large-scale commercial construction activity. I do not think that that would come as a surprise to anybody. On the other hand, what we have consistently seen in the Territory is a very healthy residential construction sector and - I know that members opposite will be delighted about this - also some very healthy developments in the public sector construction and development activity, particularly through projects like the new Foreign Affairs and Trade building - a very major construction activity. I think, Madam Speaker, that Mr Cornwell is trying to draw far too large a bow here. It is my understanding that our betterment regime varies between 50 and 100 per cent, rather than a flat rate of 100 per cent. How you can possibly draw the conclusion that you have is certainly not apparent to me; nor would it be apparent to anybody else.
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