Page 3251 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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Why can’t we do that? We know how they are manufactured and we know the cost of that manufacturing. The Treasurer is putting in place a disallowable instrument and at this point the process would use the very same green vehicle guide to provide the basis for determining the rating of the different vehicles. The guide would be called up by instrument and the instrument could be debated to ensure that the Assembly is satisfied that the right objective is being targeted.
As this guide is maintained and validated by the commonwealth government the integrity of this guide as the basis for determining the relative environmental merits of different vehicles is assumed. The proposal contains complete flexibility. However, if there were concerns with the ongoing integrity of the guide or if there were any other issues with the guide, a different source of rating of vehicles could be called up, if necessary.
The proposal at this time will only apply to new vehicles at the time at which they are first registered. This means that the scheme will be relatively straightforward to apply. The impact of the scheme will be felt gradually as the territory passenger vehicle fleet is turned over, although one has only to observe the proportion of new number plates on the streets of Canberra to see the number of new vehicles that are bought each year. Unfortunately, I have not got that data because the Chief Minister could not provide it.
The scheme proposes four grades of vehicle, and the grade at which the vehicle is rated will determine the duty that will apply. Grade A vehicles will have no duty. Grade B vehicles will be dutied at $2 per $100 of value. Grade C vehicles and vehicles that have no environmental rating will be dutied at $3 per $100 of value—and that is the current rate of duty. Grade D vehicles will be dutied at $4 per $100 of value, representing a 33 per cent increase in the current rate of duty. In his presentation speech the Chief Minister said:
For those vehicles with less than average environmental performance, the rate of duty will increase slightly.
Well, it is not. It is going up from $3 to $4. It is going up by one-third. If that is a slight increase then the Chief Minister needs to get a new dictionary.
The problem is that the scheme does not look at what those vehicles are. I have a number of concerns about the impact of this proposal on the Canberra community. In the first place, according to the information that Mr Stanhope has sent to the ACT motor vehicle industry, the top selling vehicles in the ACT in June 2008 will all actually have an increase in duty under this proposal, and three of those are work vehicles. There are two Toyota Hilux models and a Nissan Navara. To that you could then add a Toyota Prado. Some use a Prado as a work vehicle; some would use it as a recreational or personal vehicle.
The reality of this scheme is that there will be higher tax on local business and higher tax on families who have more than three kids—there are three seats in the back of a sedan—and who, because of limited choices, have to buy a larger vehicle. This is the reality that I think the Chief Minister ignores.
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