Page 2283 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
circumstances might necessitate them having to move house. Maybe if a relationship ends, they want to tax people $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000 in stamp duty if their circumstances change. That is what Jeremy Hanson stands for: taxing people who get divorced and whose financial circumstances are such that they have to move house.
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr Hanson!
MR BARR: They are taxing people who have more children and who might need to buy a bigger house—
MADAM SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired. Sit down, Mr Barr.
Mr Smyth: Madam Speaker—
MADAM SPEAKER: Sit down, Mr Smyth. I know it is the day after budget day and everyone is a little bit excited about the budget, but I think that people need to be a bit restrained. Mr Hanson, I have spoken to you on a number of occasions. Mr Seselja and Mr Coe, I have not mentioned you by name but I was about to. I would ask you to keep the level of noise down and also when I tell members to resume their seat, I expect them to do so. Mr Smyth, on a supplementary.
MR SMYTH: Minister, given that many families pay rates on their family homes, do you still view the family home as a tax haven?
MR BARR: It is true that there is no taxation on family homes at a national level—
Mr Smyth: So that is a yes.
MR BARR: There is no taxation on family homes at a national level and we at the municipal level collect rates to provide services to the people of Canberra. If the Liberal Party do not believe that services should be provided to the people of Canberra, let them say so.
ACTION bus service—patronage
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services. Minister, despite dramatic increases in the cost of parking in recent years, including an 80 per cent increase in the city since 2008, why has ACTION patronage remained stagnant?
MR RATTENBURY: I thank Mr Coe for the question. I think there are a number of reasons why that might be the case, and I am sure that you have got your set of reasons that you speculate on as well. In the conversations I have with people, there are a number of reasons why they find a bus service is perhaps not suitable for them. One of the things that we are doing as part of the process of reviewing the network—and I think it is well known that there will be a new network that is being developed at
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video