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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 107 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

The bill goes a long way towards clarifying various issues relating to duty and, given that it will not have a revenue impact, the opposition will be supporting it.

MS TUCKER (3.53): The Greens will also be supporting this bill. I understand that the act that this bill amends, the Duties Act 1999, was part of a joint initiative of several Australian jurisdictions to produce consistent, clear and simple to administer duties arrangements across participating jurisdictions. It is essentially a machinery bill that maintains the aims of the original legislation and realigns it with changes already made in New South Wales. I understand the government expects it to be revenue neutral.

I am a little concerned about the provision extending the commissioner's power to obtain revaluations for disputed valuations and to recover costs for those revaluations. It appears a little heavy-handed. I would like to be assured that in practice the provision has been, and will continue to be, administered fairly and will not be used to require lessees to unfairly pay for the errors or omissions of others.

For example, where the granting body has not done a valuation or where the commissioner challenges a valuation and orders a revaluation and the revaluation turns out to be similar to the original one, I am asking whether it is fair that the costs should be borne by the lessee.

With that proviso we support the bill.

MR QUINLAN (Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Business and Tourism and Minister for Sport, Racing and Gaming) (3.54), in reply: I thank members for their support, and I thank members for saying most of the things that I was going to say in closing the debate. I assure Ms Tucker that the powers within the bill will be exercised fairly and equitably.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2002 (No 2)

Debate resumed from 12 December 2002, on motion by Mr Stanhope:

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