Page 2289 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 22 June 2011
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MR SESELJA: No.
Ms Gallagher: Yes.
MR SESELJA: No, you just said it again and I will use it—that there is no evidence that families are at breaking point. Go and speak to them. The stats across the board show that things are getting tougher.
Ms Hunter: The low income ones are at breaking point. The low income families are.
MR SESELJA: We see the cheerleader interjecting there. We see Ms Hunter interjecting there. I could not hear over all the noise, so I apologise.
Ms Gallagher: She was on your side.
MR SESELJA: I would be shocked if that was the case, so I would welcome the positive interjection. I cannot remember the last time it happened from Ms Hunter. If I have misconstrued what she said, I do apologise.
But in terms of what can be done differently, there are a number of things. Let us look at rents. There is a lot that you can do. This government have done all they can to make it harder to buy a home and to rent a home in the ACT. They started through the minister who is now the planning minister again—the former planning minister, Simon Corbell—who decided he would not put out any land. I think in one year, in about 2003-04, they released about 700 or 800 blocks. That started the rot.
These policies do matter. We were there at that time saying that we need more land release. Simon Corbell did not listen. So we saw this squeeze on families, which is very hard to undo. That is why we put forward policies like the policy for Infrastructure Canberra. It is actually about getting that infrastructure out there ahead of time so that we can actually get the land out to have housing options, so that we can have more housing choice for families, so that we can have competition. That is why we promote competition in the market instead of the way this government conducts it with their LDA monopoly. That is why we do not support their policy of putting a large new tax on rent.
These policies make a difference. We outline what we would do differently on a daily basis and this government reject it. That is why they pursue expensive policies like the feed-in tariff. The feed-in tariff does virtually nothing for the environment but does add significant amounts to our electricity bills. You are responsible for your policies. They are your policies. You cannot control your spending and you impose higher rates on the community.
The other part of the Chief Minister’s contribution is where she said that the government had not put rates up. “We have not put rates up,” she said. That would be news I think to the people of Banks. If you are in Banks and you were to look at your bill in 2001-02—$512—and you look at your rates bill now—$1,290—you would probably suspect that the government may have put them up. You may suspect that
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