Page 1938 - Week 06 - Thursday, 8 June 2006
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of it has gone on Labor employing more public servants and paying them more. Out of the windfall gains in revenue that fell into the lap of the Stanhope government, half has gone in bloating the public service. That may not have been so bad if there were a concurrent increase in improvement in the quality of services. I am not saying that all of those increases were not needed. Certainly in some areas there was a need—initiatives like the K-to-3 small class sizes and initiatives in relation to childcare. But 2,500? I think not. A 50 per cent increase in the senior executive service? I think not.
Has there been a corresponding improvement in the number and quality of services with all that spending? Is health care any better? Are our children better educated and prepared for the future? The people that I speak to say no. In fact, they complain that services are worse and the city is tattier than it was. The people of Canberra are paying for this government’s incompetence and irresponsibility. Canberrans will pay with more cuts to services. Schools are going to suffer and indeed close. Teachers are being hit. The queues at public hospitals will get longer. Taxes are being increased.
Let us look at those taxes, because this is something that affects every man, woman and child in the territory. The nine tax changes, including two new ones, are expected to net the Treasury an additional $63.7 million in 2006-07. The revenue from rates will go up by 11 per cent. Of course the point about this is that the Stanhope government is changing the goalposts by using the wage price index instead of the generally accepted consumer price index. The wage price index is expected to rise by 4 per cent, compared with the consumer price index, which is only expected to grow by 2¾ per cent in 2006-07.
Mr Mulcahy: Upgrades.
MR STEFANIAK: You are not wrong. Because the wage price index is 45 per cent greater than the CPI, this will greatly accelerate the increases in rates, administrative fees and charges. This, in turn, will fuel an increase in the rate of inflation, imposing yet another burden on the community. This is a totally inequitable and unacceptable burden on the people of the ACT. It means, effectively, that every increase in the pay of the ACT’s top public servants will translate into an increase in the fees, rates and charges on people on fixed and low incomes, even after allowing for any rebate they receive. This is hitting people who are already struggling to survive.
The revenue from the ambulance levy will go up by 31 per cent so that individuals will pay an additional $54 to $84, and families will pay an additional $114 to $170. There will be a false-alarm call-out fee of $200. The new fire and emergency services levy will rake in a further $20 million from householders and cost a householder $83 a year.
Revenue from ActewAGL dividends for water, gas and electricity is expected to go up by 85 per cent. The utility land use charge is expected to bring in $8 million this year, increasing to $16 million in a full year. This will translate into higher water, gas and electricity charges for all householders. The water extraction charge will be up by 107 per cent to $27 million. That in itself is expected to increase household costs by around $118 a year, the single biggest increase in rates and taxes on average households since self-government.
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