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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2073 ..
MR OSBORNE (continuing):
"The people of the ACT should only be subjected to increased taxation through Act of Parliament-that is, legislation duly debated and passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly.
"At present the government is able to increase taxation by ministerial determination-that is, the Minister signing a piece of paper and having his or her decision gazetted.
"This determination is subject to disallowance by the Assembly-but that happens after the event.
Mr Rugendyke: Is that Gary?
MR OSBORNE: I think it is Gary. It says that it is Gary in this paper, Mr Rugendyke. The article continues:
In other words, the Minister can increase tax virtually at will and this decision can only later be disallowed by the Assembly.
"In my view, this is neither desirable nor democratic.
Mr Speaker, there is more:
"I believe tax increases must not be presented to the people of Canberra through the back door. They must be presented up front in the Legislative Assembly, where they can be fully debated and put to the vote.
This is too much, Mr Speaker. There is more:
"The Labor Government says it believes in open, accessible and democratic government. If this is more than empty rhetoric, the Government must, in my view, bring its tax raising procedures into line with accepted democratic practices," Mr Humphries said.
I seek leave to table those two newspaper articles, Mr Speaker.
Leave granted.
MR OSBORNE: Obviously, the Treasurer has changed his mind on this matter as he is currently singing a very different song. Nonetheless, we need to have some adjustment to our tax laws in order to accommodate the GST. I am pleased that we will be able to do so without opening the door to the possibility of being able to impose taxes outside the realm of this parliament.
MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety) (9.05), in reply: Mr Speaker, I congratulate Mr Osborne on his excellent research facilities. His staff obviously have nothing better to do all day than to roam through 12-year-old or 11-year-old copies of the files in the library to determine what members thought over a decade ago. I will return to that subject in a moment, Mr Speaker, but I will start with comments on the Goods and Services Tax (Temporary Transitional Provisions) Bill.
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