Page 1992 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the part of the community who will never own a home.” That is because the government has made it so difficult to purchase a house and land package. On the other hand, they get this flawed land rent scheme, which Genworth Financial says will probably put them into negative equity, possibly right from the start. And then, just to compound it, and maybe to make that negative equity situation even worse, it says, “We’re actually going to charge you stamp duty for something that you’re not owning.”
We cannot in good conscience support that. I find it extraordinary that the government thinks it is reasonable to levy stamp duty on rent, on the rent of land. These people are not getting the benefit of ownership. They should, therefore, not be treated in the same way homebuyers are. They should not be doubly penalised. They do not get the benefit of owning the land, but they do get the taxes associated with buying the land. That is unreasonable. We therefore will not be supporting the Duties Amendment Bill.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (4.49): The Greens will be supporting both these bills.
The land rent bill contains sensible initiatives that the Greens are happy to support. There are a number of technical changes that primarily improve the administration of the scheme following the implementation review.
The Greens agree that clarifying the provisions in relation to the scheme concession is a good idea. The changes proposed in the bill will simplify the process, making it easier to administer for the Commissioner for Revenue and clearer for participants in the land rent scheme.
The bill proposes a reasonable scheme to ensure that those who succeed in their applications for concessions continue to qualify for those concessions.
The Greens also support the delegation of a power to the commissioner to determine that affordable housing providers are entitled to pay discounted land rent for land rent leases. This is a good idea. The Greens certainly agree that the government should be helping community housing providers to provide that affordable housing.
Equally, it is not appropriate to provide the discount to ACT Housing, who should be separately funded—and, I would say, better funded—through the budget. Addressing housing affordability is a very challenging issue. The importance of increasing our public housing stock and ensuring that we can provide for all those in our community who are most in need cannot be overstated.
The Greens support the land rent scheme and agree that it has made homeownership possible for many who might not otherwise have been able to achieve it.
In relation to the Duties Amendment Bill, the Greens support the clarification that it is the full value of the lease that is liable to a duty payment when a land rent lease is transferred, and therefore support the bill.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (4.51), in reply: I thank
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video