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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2549 ..
MR CORNWELL
(continuing):to disallow one aspect of registrations without wiping out all registrations. If this disallowance is to get up, Mr Speaker, I do hope somebody will let me know as I want to make a phone call to my wife.
It being 45 minutes after the commencement of Assembly business, the debate was interrupted in accordance with standing order 77. Ordered that the time allotted to Assembly business be extended by 30 minutes.
MR CORNWELL
: I welcome the minister's assurance that a review into the various concessions will be undertaken, and I grant you that they are a bit confusing. Let me begin by saying that a $25 charge for part annual registration does seem rather excessive. However, I appreciate that there will be a cost involved in processing something that is out of the ordinary, if I can put it that way.The problem, of course, is that if you reduce the additional cost for something like this to a nominal amount it may very well end up costing the government more money than the extra amount you charge. This is always one of the problems. Therefore, there is a tendency perhaps to put the charge up to something that is well beyond what the normal charge or cost of handling would be. That is something that I think we simply have to live with.
I am not 100 per cent sure that all part payments of concessions are effectively taken up by the poor. Many people do not have the money to pay their registration annually and are obliged to pay perhaps for three months or six months, somewhat similar to rate payments that people can pay quarterly. However, the fact that some people choose to make payments in this way does not necessarily indicate that they are poor. Some people prefer to do this type of thing in order to have disposable income for other activities.
Nevertheless, this is something that needs to be looked at. Clearly, although some people may use this method of payment in order to have disposable income, other people do not pay the 12-month fee for rates or, indeed, motor vehicle registration, because they are strapped for cash.
I am concerned, however, about the minister's comment that it costs $10 to pay by using the internet, but if you go into a shopfront it is going to cost you $25. These are matters that I think all government agencies should be addressing. The internet, Bpay and various other means of electronic payment are now very much part of everyday life. Nevertheless, there are a significant number of people in the community-and I am particularly conscious of this, being spokesman for the aged-who simply do not have access to or cannot access this type of electronic payment.
I am reminded, Mr Speaker, of the difficulties experience by an elderly friend who, while not experiencing problems in terms of mental capacity, is crippled with arthritis. It is very difficult when you have got arthritis in your hands to make phone calls and Bpay transactions. This is a small example of the difficulties faced by these people. It seems wrong that they should be charged more because they cannot access electronic systems of payment.
The other problem, of course, that bedevils this whole thing is the involvement of Commonwealth payments as opposed to ACT payments and concessions. I think this
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