Page 2847 - Week 07 - Thursday, 7 June 2012
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of the fourth year, when nearly $400 million will be raised through general rates. $400 million will be taken from the cost of living budgets of Canberra families and added to the coffers of the ACT Labor budget—$400 million.
Imagine what Canberrans’ rates will look like then. Yesterday, the Treasurer could not even tell us how much those rates will be, so we can only imagine the worst. The Quinlan review, the basis of the great reform, talks about $4,000 rate bills. Will they be that much? Who knows? The Treasurer certainly does not. Mr Barr will argue there are savings or offsets, but all the data available points in one direction: a massive increase in the cost of living.
We are still considering the full implications of the detail of this government’s response to the Quinlan recommendations, but the budget numbers provided on Tuesday paint a very concerning picture. The burden hits, as is so often the case with Labor budgets, and always the case with Labor-Greens budgets, on the middle income families. The greatest majority of families in Canberra will be hit with the greatest increase in rates, from the highest taxing government in the country. We will continue to look very carefully at this proposal, but current indications, and all past form of this government, point to yet another massive tax on the home, the car and the family.
Another area of concern is the continuing march of the lease variation charge, a tax increase we have opposed since its inception. It is a tax on housing affordability. It is impossible to levy a charge of up to $50,000 on every unit in an apartment development and not have it affect the final price. It is nonsense to suggest otherwise. It is a tax against infill development. It is impossible to levy massive taxes on dual occupancies and not have it affect those contemplating such a move.
And it is more than a tax on jobs in the sector; it is a jobs killer. We have heard of many projects stalling or cancelling because of the tax and planning regime in this city. This is most keenly felt when skilled personnel simply leave to follow the work; a boom and bust pattern that has been the bane of this city for decades. This tax perpetuates and exacerbates that cycle.
This year that tax increases in line with the reduction of the concessions. For a multi-unit development of five to 10 units, it means the following new taxes: in Braddon or Turner, $24,500 per unit; in Phillip, $19,250. For the dual occupancy market, in Kambah it increases to $15,750, in Mawson to $24,500 and in Aranda to $21,000.
What has happened to the industry since it was announced? According to ABS data, approvals fell by 18½ per cent in trend terms in May and have fallen by 60 per cent in trend terms in the last year. It is having an impact and it is not a positive one.
For all these taxes, all this revenue, you would think we would have the best services in the country. The fact is we do not. And that is the second whammy from this government. After 11 years of Labor and four of a Labor-Greens government, we have some of the most appalling outcomes in the country.
The hallmark of a good government, and a good local government in particular, is not how much they spend but what they get for their money. There is no doubt that this
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