Page 1254 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 May 2006
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forced to abandon that proposal. And now we have the motor vehicle tax. The Stanhope government sought to impose stamp duty on motor vehicles based on the list price of the vehicle. In the face of fierce opposition from the opposition and the industry, the government became aware of the stupidity of this proposal and the proposal has now been withdrawn.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (5.28): I wish to support the government’s opposition to its own clause and to say that, like Mr Smyth, we were contacted by a number of concerned new car dealers and by the Motor Trades Association, which was very concerned when it found out about the government’s proposed amendment last year. Although the previous Treasurer argued that this amendment would create a level playing field by placing greater taxes on fleet buyers, implying that they could afford them more than could individuals, car dealers contended that, since the ACT is so close to other major cities, fleet buyers would be tempted to buy their cars interstate where taxes were lower. As some people say, the market rules. This statement is very likely to be true and the policy would have led to a loss in government revenue. Since then, the ACT government has reviewed its proposal and decided to maintain the status quo of using sales price when calculating stamp duty on new cars. So I am not really sure about the need for Mr Smyth’s amendment in this case.
Mr Smyth: No, it won’t be moved.
Clause 9 negatived.
Proposed new clauses 9A and 9B.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (5.30): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name, which seeks to insert new clauses 9A and 9B [see schedule 2 at page 1269].
My amendment seeks to create a new section 208AB of the Duties Act. If the amendment is accepted, the ACT government will be able to prescribe in regulations that new vehicles purchased in the ACT pay a lower level of stamp duty if they are deemed to be among the class of vehicles with a low level of emissions. I have introduced this amendment because it is time that a car-based city like Canberra took greater account of the effect that cars have on our environment.
A number of times we have heard in debates in this place from both the government and other members of the house that, because the ACT was designed in the era of the car and its design is focused on increasing the ease of movement of cars, for a while at least, depending on how and whether we move to a public transport focus, cars are going to be an inevitable part of our lives. Consequently, given that we have obligations to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and, I believe, obligations to residents to help them move to cars that have a decreased reliance on petrol, one way we can do that is by creating financial incentives to purchase low-emission and less-fuel-using new cars.
Another reason for introducing the amendment is that the government has stated that it must rethink its revenue base. In conjunction with its review of the climate change strategy, the government should be considering the environmental impact of its taxes and subsidies, to encourage businesses and individuals to employ more sustainable practices. My amendment is backed up by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts report of
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