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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2038 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

It is a tax, as those members who have spoken have indicated. We as a government believe that any tax, any charge, any impost on the community, has to be based upon confidence, ability to pay and fairness. We believe that our approach achieves all of those things. We believe that it gives the people of Canberra an opportunity to plan ahead during difficult times. It certainly achieves the 3 per cent increase that this Government indicated that we would want in our rates and land tax this year. From my perspective, Mr Speaker, that makes it a good piece of legislation.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Bill, by leave, taken as a whole

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (10.58): Mr Speaker, I move:

Page 2, lines 16 to 18 (inclusive), paragraph 4(d), proposed subsection 11A(4), omit the subsection, substitute the following subsection:

"(4) In this section -

`special relevant date' means 1 January 1995 or 1 January 1996.".

Mr Speaker, I have indicated already in the in-principle debate my motivation for moving this amendment. The purpose of this amendment is to say to the Government, "This far and no further". You went to the last election saying that you were going to fix the rating system. You went to the last election saying that you were going to come up with a new way of doing it. You have had a review at a cost of $72,000 to the taxpayers. That took 12 months. We are giving you another 12 months to consider what you are going to do about it, but that is far enough. Next year, Mrs Carnell, we want a new rating system. We do not want a continuation of this nonsense position where indefinitely into the future we levy rates on the basis of what people's values were on 1 January 1994. It is an absurd position, Mr Speaker. It is a position which this Assembly tolerated last year because Mrs Carnell said she was going to come up with a new proposition. It has been forced on us again this year because Mrs Carnell cannot make a decision, but we are not going to accept it again next year. We are telling Mrs Carnell now - and she has 12 months to think about it - that next year we want her to come back with a new rates system. We are not going to put up with another year of rates being charged on 1994 values.

Mrs Carnell gave us a lot of nonsense in her speech in reply to the in-principle debate. She put on a melodramatic performance about how people left, right and centre were all being kicked out of their homes as a result of the former rating system, about how all over Canberra people were opening their rates envelopes in June and saying, "We will have to sell up our house because we cannot afford to pay the rates". What a load of nonsense! Fear of losing their home - that is what Mrs Carnell - - -

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