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

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (13 May) . . Page.. 1336 ..

Debate resumed from 10 April 1997, on motion by Mrs Carnell:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR WHITECROSS (Leader of the Opposition) (6.04): Mr Speaker, the Rates and Land Rent (Relief) (Amendment) Bill 1997 provides for new arrangements for the capping of pensioner concessions as announced in last year's budget. As in relation to the debits tax, which I was talking about earlier, Mr Speaker, this legislation is effectively a new tax which was announced in last year's budget but which allows Mrs Carnell to keep to the technical letter of her words that there are no new taxes in this year's budget.

The Government announced in last year's budget that it would introduce a $250 cap on the general rates concession available to new eligible pensioners from 1 July 1997. It does not affect existing pensioners, but new pensioners, as of 1 July, will be disadvantaged. In the short term it will affect only a few people, but over the longer term it will affect the totality of the pensioner population. Budget Paper No. 3 of 1996-97 stated:

It is expected that savings from this initiative will accrue slowly, and therefore are not reflected in forward year estimates.

This demonstrates that this change cannot be justified by the revenue needs of the Government and is really just a mean-spirited attack on pensioners. This is an ad hoc approach to pensioner concession policy in the ACT. There has been no rational analysis of pensioner concessions in the ACT, and, as well, no consideration of other disadvantaged groups and their concessions. Indeed, health care card holders, such as the large number of unemployed in the ACT, are consistently ignored by this Government in the consideration of concessions.

Mr Speaker, it should be noted that this revenue measure, as I said before, was announced in last year's budget. It was announced so that Mrs Carnell could bring down a no-tax election budget this year. We believe it is an unfair impost on pensioners, and it does not assist with the revenue of the Territory. Labor will be opposing those clauses dealing with the capping of the pensioner rates concession, although we will be supporting the other measures in the Bill.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (6.07), in reply: Mr Speaker, I find it very interesting that Mr Whitecross is going to oppose the pensioner capping part of this legislation; but, I am very pleased to note, he will support the rest. On 14 September 1993 Rosemary Follett made an announcement in her budget speech. I quote from page 3004 of Hansard of 14 September 1993. She said:

To assist in funding these new concessions, the existing 50 per cent rates concession to pensioners will be limited to $300 per annum from 1 July 1994.

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