Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2033 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

Mrs Carnell, in her speech when introducing this Bill, said that the Bill provides for land values to remain at 1994 values for the next two financial years. What she said next is the quintessential encapsulation of the decision-making powers of the Government. She said:

This will allow the Government time to undertake a full analysis of the review's recommendations and to consider possible changes to the rating system.

It takes one year to conduct a review and then two years to consider its recommendations. What an outrage! Mrs Carnell knows that she cannot make a decision. Mrs Carnell knows that she does not have a solution to this problem. She is trying to put off the evil day when she has to utter those famous words: "I was wrong before the 1995 election. There is not a magical solution to rates. I misrepresented the situation to the community. I created false expectations. I was wrong". Mrs Carnell does not want to have to do that, so she comes in here and tries to tell this house and the people of Canberra that it is going to take her two years to consider the recommendations of a consultancy which cost the taxpayers $72,000. As far as I am concerned and as far as the Opposition is concerned, that is not good enough.

In the meantime, Mr Speaker, the Canberra community has been saddled with an interim rates system which, in our opinion, is inequitable. Individual property values provide the means of distributing the tax burden equitably among ratepayers. Capping rate increases in the way that Mrs Carnell has destroys the relationship between rate charges and land values and the concomitant notion of equity as between ratepayers in their ability to pay. Capping or pegging of rate liabilities to overcome large increases requires the owners of properties with little or no increases in value to pay a disproportionate share of rates. Indeed, properties with substantial falls in values are copping a highly disproportionate share of rates. Is Mrs Carnell capping rates to inflation because she knows that land valuations have fallen and she is unable to suck enough revenue out of the community? I do not know. Because of Mrs Carnell's financial mismanagement and mishandling of Health, she is meeting her revenue demands unfairly.

Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell has painted herself into a corner on this matter. This Bill is a cop-out. We are entrenching a rates system which, with every passing year, becomes more inequitable in its imposition on Canberra residents. With every passing year, it creates a worse problem for Mrs Carnell to fix in the long term. All Mrs Carnell is doing is delaying the day when she will have to construct a rational basis for setting rates. Like Health, rates seemed so easy to Mrs Carnell in opposition, and in government she does not know what to do.

Mr Speaker, as I said, we are not opposing this Bill, even though we believe that Mrs Carnell's approach is unacceptable. The community deserves better from this Government than a non-decision on rates. In passing this Bill, we will give Mrs Carnell yet another year to get the rates system right. It is a year she should not need. It is a year she should not take, but because of her indecision it is a year she will have to take.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .