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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (29 March) . . Page.. 1043 ..
MR MOORE: You ought to talk to them, Mr Berry. The vast majority of the nursing staff and the union supported it. They supported it and it has been passed. Mr Berry, there are significant benefits, particularly for nurses, through the package that they have got. It is something that we are able to manage within the context of the budget. Mr Speaker, it is something that I am particularly proud of because we have been able to work with the nurses. Members might just remember the difficulty that Mr Berry had working with the nurses when he was the Minister for Health. We have been able to negotiate a sensible agreement with them. It is something that I am very proud of and this Government is very proud of.
MR CORBELL: My question is to the Treasurer. I have received complaints from constituents about the operation of the proposed first home owners scheme, to be administered by the ACT Government, which will provide compensation for first home owners for the impact of the goods and services tax. Can the Treasurer explain to the Assembly why the scheme will not apply to first home owners who sign building contracts before 1 July 2000 but who are expected to pay the GST on all parts of the contracts that are completed after that date, as they have been advised by your department?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, the answer is very simple. It is because the Commonwealth provision for the payment of a subsidy in those circumstances does not begin until that point. If the ACT were to provide subsidies for those people who signed contracts prior to 1 July - that could be a very long time before 1 July, I might point out; it could go back several years - we would have to meet them from the ACT's pocket, rather than from the pocket of the Federal Government.
I am very happy to put in place a first home owners scheme, and I intend to introduce that legislation in the Assembly tomorrow. It will reflect the agreement that all States and Territories have reached on this subject and, therefore, will have terms consistent with those of other States and Territories. It would be nice to be more generous than any other place in Australia, but the idea of having it operate from a particular date is that it should be possible to bring a new system of monitoring the details of the new scheme under the control of the scheme which begins on that date. There would have to be some casting back, I suppose, or inspection of documents and so on from dates before the new scheme was actually established to take on board contracts signed before 1 July. Some people may suffer some loss as a result of that, because the GST will apply, obviously, from 1 July. If you signed a contract on, say, 1 June - - -
Mr Corbell: That is what I am saying.
MR HUMPHRIES
: Yes, and that is what I am agreeing with. If you signed a contract on 1 June and you were still incurring building costs after 1 July, until the house is completed, you would be affected by the GST, but there would not be a first home owner scheme there to supplement that; that is quite true. Mr Speaker, all I can say is
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