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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 14 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 4909 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

an investment in a piece of land which will be theirs for only a short period of time. Clearly, the investment you make, particularly the capital investment you make, is smaller, is less extensive, if the land that you invest in is yours for only a limited period of time. You do not build a massive factory, for argument's sake - - -

Mr Moore: That might keep the prices down. That may well keep the prices down and encourage people to come here. You see, a whole series of things need to be considered here.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR HUMPHRIES: I do not believe it would. If you want to make a large capital investment you are not interested in the low price of the land; you are interested in the capital cost of erecting your building. That is what you are interested in. You want to make sure that when you have built your building it is not going to become somebody else's at the end of the period that your lease has to run.

Mr Speaker, I think it is important, for the sake of confidence in the future and making this a good place to invest, a good place to attract investment from outside the Territory - both national and international investment - that we make the system of tenure understandable. It is not freehold that we are talking about. It is not perpetual leasehold. We are talking about renewal of leases where the payment of the fee occurs. I suggest, Mr Speaker, that that is entirely appropriate and in line with what we have already decided to do with residential leases.

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (11.00): Mr Speaker, the Opposition will not be going down the path that Mr Moore has proposed of not providing for renewal of commercial leases. There are, I think, some legitimate reasons for clarifying issues to do with the renewal of leases in relation to commercial leases, as there are with residential and rural leases, which mean that the proposals in the Government's proposed amendment ought to be followed.

Mr Moore's argument against the Government's amendment seems to relate to his desire to pursue lease renewal as an occasion for tinkering with the revenue base from commercial lessees. If Mr Moore has ideas about ways of getting extra money out of commercial lessees, I think they ought to be considered in a wider context than the issue of lease renewal. I would submit that lease renewal is not the best occasion on which to be looking at revenue from commercial lessees. It is a fairly arbitrary occasion in the life of a business.

Mr Moore: It is when the contract comes to an end.

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Moore says, "When the contract comes to an end". Mr Speaker, once again Mr Moore appears to treat leases as - - -

Mr Moore: A lease as a contract?

MR WHITECROSS: Yes, of course, they are contracts. Mr Moore seems to treat them as contracts like a contract to clean your carpets or something like that.

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