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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 2 Hansard (9 March) . . Page.. 454 ..

MS TUCKER

We believe that the polluter-pays mechanism could be applied and that incentives should be built into the tax system that reward people who take the trouble to be environmentally responsible.

Given that the ACT is an island in New South Wales and that much of our economy is dependent on the Federal Public Service, I realise that there are limitations on revenue raising. However, I do believe that there are some areas where more revenue could be raised. The most significant asset of the ACT is its land. So, we should be ensuring that we get the optimal return to the Government from its use. Increases in land tax and stamp duties on commercial property in the ACT should be able to be borne by that sector, as the underlying demand for buildings in which commercial services are provided or to provide offices for the public and private sectors will always be there.

There is also scope for increasing the rates on luxury homes in the ACT, on equity grounds. It is a sad reflection on our society that some properties in Forrest are selling for over $1m when there are so many people who cannot even afford to buy the cheapest house. Surely those people who can afford to live in luxury homes can afford to put a bit more back into the community.

Another revenue raiser that has been discussed in the past is a bed tax on commercial accommodation. Provided that there was a threshold so that low-cost accommodation was excluded, there would probably be little impact on the tourism industry, as it would primarily target business and public sector travellers into Canberra, who would still come here for the sake of their employment.

There is also scope for a review of charges in the transport sector, both to increase revenue and for the environmental objective of managing transport demand. We believe that, ideally, a carbon tax should be imposed on all energy use, including petrol sales; but this can really only be imposed at a Federal level. We can do a few things locally, however, that help in managing transport demand. There is a need to review the existing system of parking charges in the ACT, as there is considerable inconsistency in how they are applied across the Territory. There is also a need to ensure that parking charges are sufficiently high to encourage more people to use public transport, especially for commuting.

There is scope for reviewing motor vehicle registration to make it better reflect the environmental impacts of different vehicles. The Government has already started this with the introduction of differential registration charges based on the weight of the vehicle; but this has created a number of anomalies and does not go far enough. It should be possible to establish differential registration based on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, as standard fuel efficiency data has been collected by the Federal Government since 1980. Older vehicles would be excluded, obviously. The Greens believe that the differentials between the different charges could also be increased markedly, particularly for four-wheel drive vehicles that are not bought for work purposes, as these vehicles are inappropriate in the urban area. Higher stamp duties on the purchase of gas-guzzling motor vehicles could also be introduced as an action measure.

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