Page 3625 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 22 October 2013
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on to the consumer. So the first homebuyer, the struggling young couple perhaps, trying to buy that unit will find themselves in a situation where they are going to be paying $31,000 extra this year for that unit.
The issue of rates is also important. On average they have increased since 2001 when this government came in by more than 90 per cent. But let us look at particular suburbs. Banks has had a 152 per cent increase in rates and Charnwood, 158 per cent. We hear that Charnwood is a pocket of social disadvantage and we hear this government say they will not increase rates for people facing social disadvantage. But the evidence is that since they have come in rates have increased in Charnwood by 158 per cent. Chisholm, 130 per cent; Dunlop, 137 per cent; Spence, 148 per cent; and Holt, 138 per cent. None of those places—Banks, Charnwood, Dunlop—are areas of social privilege, but look how their rates have gone up.
We know their rates are going to triple because when we asked the government how this was going to work Mr Barr said, “Go to Quinlan,” and Quinlan showed us rates tripling. The simple facts are that the government is abolishing $350 million worth of taxes—there is no dispute about that—but they are passing that all on to rates. And the only thing that can then happen is for revenue from rates to triple. There is no other way to do it.
In the 2012-13 budget rates went up by an average of 9.6 per cent, or $104. In 2013-14 rates increased by an average of 10 per cent, or $139. The budget shows an increase of 10 per cent a year, and that is without any increase to your property in terms of unimproved land value. So if it is going up 10 per cent a year and you extrapolate that out, then revenue from rates will triple in just over 11 years.
The problem is that there is no response from the government that refutes these claims. I will go through some quotes from the Hansard of estimates last year. Mr Coe always asks a good question:
Mr Coe: Have you actually done the work for 20 years?
Mr Barr: I refer you to the Quinlan tax review.
We have already made the point that Quinlan says they triple. Katy Gallagher said in the CityNews:
There is no plan to triple rates—that’s a lie.
In the annual reports hearings Mr Barr said:
No, at no point did I deny there would be pain.
The government claims they have done the modelling. Mr Barr said at the estimates this year:
Mr Barr: I know exactly what the effect of my reforms will be.
THE CHAIR: You have done modelling, surely?
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