Page 2190 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 22 June 2010
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MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Section 12(4) of the Government Agencies (Campaign Advertising) Act requires the appointment of a reviewer by a two-thirds majority of this Assembly. As a two-thirds majority was not achieved, I declare the result of the motion in the negative.
Duties Amendment Bill 2010
Debate resumed from 6 May 2010, on motion by Ms Gallagher:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (4.46): The opposition will be supporting this bill. I thank the Treasurer for arranging a briefing on the bill. What the bill does is remove duty that applies when a person wishes to register a caravan or a camper trailer in the ACT for the first time. It does not apply to any other trailer. This was a budget measure; hence, I was told, no consultation was held prior to the announcement.
Nevertheless, many representations were received by the government from ACT residents, from people moving to the ACT and from the caravan association seeking the removal of this impost. It will bring the ACT into line with New South Wales. It has, in fact, applied in New South Wales for the last 12 months. I was told during the briefing that New South Wales had already seen a 41 per cent increase in registrations of caravans over that period. One can, therefore, anticipate that the abolition of this impost will lead to an increase in registrations of caravans and camper trailers in the ACT. I am happy to support this proposal.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra-Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (4.48): The ACT Greens are happy to support the Duties Amendment Bill 2010. As has been outlined, the change makes our duty requirements consistent with New South Wales, which abolished this duty in July last year. This should encourage the purchase and registration of caravans and camper trailers in the ACT rather than in New South Wales. I understand that this amendment has come about because of feedback from the revenue office and individuals, rather than the industry itself, though I do note that the National Caravan Association has been pushing this issue for some time now, particularly since Western Australia first adopted this measure.
In the last 12 months, there was a 42 per cent increase in receipts for caravan registrations in New South Wales and a 31 per cent increase in transfers following the decision to exempt the duty there. The ACT has had no such changes and it seems reasonable that this would be because of the significant financial advantages in purchasing and registering caravans over the border. This artificial difference obviously makes it more difficult to calculate the compulsory third party costs and premiums and deprives the ACT of revenue that would otherwise flow, all things being equal.
I note that the budget papers provide that this measure will mean a reduction in revenue of approximately $300,000. As the Treasurer noted, the evidence suggests that we can reasonably expect an increase in registrations, which should go some way to making up for this.
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