Page 3223 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 13 November 2007
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objects for outdoor cafes, over a three-year period, by 100 per cent plus indexation. Recently, my department has drawn my attention to a number of errors in the way they have calculated the fees, resulting in a total fee increase greater than that originally intended by the government in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Although it is a relatively small amount in the context of the extra business that cafes can earn from outdoor facilities and remains well below the fees levied in other Australian cities, it is my intention to restore the fee structure so as to be consistent with the government’s 2005 policy announcement.
During this sitting fortnight I will table a revised disallowable instrument which will reduce the fees to the level they should have been under the 2005 government policy. This will mean a reduction of around $6 to $9 per square metre, depending on the fee type. This will apply from the date of notification. In addition, those businesses which paid the higher than intended fees in 2006-07 and in this financial year will be refunded the full amount of the overpayment. I will be meeting with industry representatives in the near future to work through the finer details of this arrangement.
In 2005 the government also agreed to introduce fees for the use of road verges for vehicle displays, with the same fee structure as that for outdoor cafes. Those fees will also be reduced to maintain parity with the outdoor cafe fees.
Mr Speaker, I am also conscious of the obligation on ministers to correct the record at the nearest opportunity after a potential misleading statement has been drawn to their attention. To the extent that my statements, including the wording of the 2007 explanatory statement for this fee determination, may have been incomplete, inaccurate or subject to misinterpretation, my comments today should be seen as correcting the record.
Electricity (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Amendment Bill 2007
Debate resumed from 15 March 2007, on motion by Mr Hargreaves:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR SPEAKER: I call Dr Foskey.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (11.10): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Stefaniak: On a point of order, if I may, Mr Speaker, before Dr Foskey starts, a procedural matter in relation to the call has been drawn to my attention during a debate on 3 May. You made reference to this particular matter. The bill being discussed then was, I think, an environmental protection fuel bill. You gave the call to Mr Mulcahy, Dr Foskey interjected, and there was some discussion about that. You made this statement in relation to the call, page 895 of Hansard of 3 May:
MR SPEAKER: Members, lest there be further disquiet about these matters, I draw this to your attention. I have just been passed this information by the Clerk, from page 354 of House of Representatives Practice. It says:
When the second reading has been moved immediately pursuant to S.O. 142(a), it is mandatory for debate to be adjourned after the Minister’s
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