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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (28 June) . . Page.. 2151 ..
MR SMYTH
: Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Tucker for her question. It is a very important question because the tax changes that start on Saturday will have a great impact across the country. Part of that is the impact on the rental rebate formula.Ms Tucker asks what we have done to alert tenants to those changes. I have with me a copy of the letter that we have sent out to tenants. Helen Fletcher, the director of housing services, sent the letter to all our tenants and it does run through the changes and how they affect tenants. Attached to it is a chart that illustrates how it would affect you as a tenant, depending on your family circumstances and the number of children you have. I would be happy to table the letter at the end of this answer, Mr Speaker.
The government has sought to minimise the impact of the changes to rental rebates by attempting to make the changes revenue neutral. The closest we can get to this scenario is to charge 10 per cent of part A of the new payments. That is equal to the lowest in the country. Queensland is going to charge almost 14 per cent and I think New South Wales is doing 11 per cent. We have set out to make the change revenue neutral and we are charging the lowest rate in the country, so the effect on tenants will be minimal. Some tenants will experience a small increase in their rent, but many families will pay less. The exact impact will vary, depending on individual circumstances.
Ms Tucker cited an example. It is hard for me to work that out here, but I would certainly be happy to give Ms Tucker or her office, or any of the other MLAs who are interested in this issue, a briefing on the changes as they affect housing tenants. I table the letter.
MR BERRY: My question is to the Minister for Education, Mr Stefaniak. Minister, Yarralumla Primary School has an autism unit. It has about six students, all of whom are highly dependent. The school's record is an excellent one and the program is well respected for its success. Your department has decided to cut one of the teaching or teaching assistant positions in the unit, which will cause irreparable damage to these kids and put extra pressure on the remaining two staff members. Are you aware of this decision? When is it programmed to take effect? Was this part of the budget process?
MR STEFANIAK
: Mr Speaker, both Yarralumla and Weetangera were given a teacher and two assistants. The second assistant was actually for 100 days this year. There have been some discussions recently in relation to that and the government has decided that both of those positions will remain this year. I am pleased to see, Mr Berry, that we are getting some very good feedback from those units. I got a particularly nice letter, of which I think Mr Stanhope has a copy, from Weetangera.Mr Berry
: I take a point of order. I asked whether the minister was aware of a decision to take away those staff.MR SPEAKER
: Mr Stefaniak is answering the question quite adequately, Mr Berry.
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