Page 1777 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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I have moved today that the government is not shying away from reporting on the cost of and changes to taxes in the territory. Ironically, the opposition has recognised the need to present reasonable information on the concessions and assistance available to households. However, its bill actually does not reflect this view.
In developing its amendment, the government has been guided by models used in other jurisdictions, as I have indicated in my earlier comments on the bill. The approach proposed through the government’s amendment is, indeed, in keeping with the approach adopted in Western Australia. This makes sense, as it draws on the experience of a jurisdiction that has been preparing such a statement for some time. The government’s statement will provide transparent information on the characteristics of the household used in the model and, indeed, its consumption patterns.
I commend the government amendment to the Assembly. It is a worthwhile improvement on the private member’s bill.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (10.52): The Greens will be supporting the government amendment because we believe it will provide an increased level of useful information and accuracy in the new statement to be included in the budget papers. Simply listing the various changes in taxes and charges will do little to illustrate the real impact on Canberrans. We agree that we should be focused on the direct impacts and recognise that assessing indirect impacts is very difficult and will not provide a particularly effective way of helping us to develop a targeted response to address cost of living pressures for those in our community who are doing it tough.
I make the observation that the cost of living issue is easily distorted, and just being able to reel off a list of costs does little to illustrate the impact they are having or effective ways we can target concessions to ensure that those who benefit from the concessions are those who most need them. Providing a contextualised picture of the impact of government charges is the more meaningful approach, and that is why the Greens will be supporting the proposed amendment. It is important that, as representatives of the ACT community, we are accurate in statements we make in regard to cost of living issues.
There are many households who are doing it tough out there—about one in 10 people in the community—and the Greens recognise that there are many that need targeted assistance to assist them with their household costs, to keep shelter over their heads, to keep food on the table. The targeted assistance strategy panel, which was put together to look at the sorts of assistance and concessions needed by many in our community, recently released its targeted assistance strategy. It included a number of very useful recommendations. The panel’s remit was to focus on those who sit just above the range or those people who receive a range of government concessions but who are not in receipt of direct government assistance.
For a long time now the Greens have focused on this group as well as the needs of those who receive the often inadequate government pensions and benefits. We have proposed over time a range of initiatives to improve things like household energy
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