Page 879 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 9 April 2014
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MR COE (Ginninderra) (4.52): I too want to reiterate the thoughts which have been carefully conveyed by Mr Smyth and Mr Hanson regarding this very important motion. I want to speak to the policy at large. This is a policy which the government have admitted is flawed. By giving various waivers in addition to the stimulus package which was announced on 6 March, they are in fact admitting that their policy is not working.
This is a policy which the opposition have been critical of for many years. Just like the lease variation charge, the extension of time fees—formerly the commence and complete charges—were put in place as a cash grab by this government because they cannot rein in their spending. As a result of fees and charges like this, which are so inefficient and so ineffective from a government revenue point of view, they now have to cut the health budget because they are not getting the expected revenue. The fact is that this government are repeatedly putting in place perverse policies that get the wrong outcome. That is exactly what is happening with these extension of time fees.
What is perhaps of greater concern is Minister Barr’s comments in the Assembly a few minutes ago which show he is pretty much opening up his door to lobbyists. Lobbyists do not even need to knock; they can just go right on in, it seems. Minister Barr is saying, “Don’t go to the opposition, who will raise it in a transparent way. Don’t go to the opposition, who might raise it in the Legislative Assembly. Come to me directly and we’ll negotiate it behind closed doors.”
This is no different to the project facilitation bill, which is, of course, a lobbyist’s dream. It is a bill which gives the government near unfettered powers when it comes to approving buildings and developments in and around our city. It is a far cry from what the government articulated just a few years ago and a very long way from what the Labor Party campaigned on back when they were in opposition.
The stimulus package announced on 6 March is an admission that the commence and complete regime or the extension of time regime is wrong. It is simply not working. We get perverse outcomes such as the one that has been highlighted by Mr Smyth today. The community lose out because they do not get a medical facility, and the government lose out because they only collect the revenue when construction starts. But construction is not going to start because of these ridiculous fees.
I hope that all in this place will see sense and will acknowledge that the commence and complete or extension of time regime is simply not working and that we need to reform it as a matter of urgency in order to stimulate business in the ACT and to ensure that medical facilities such as the one Mr Smyth has highlighted do in fact get off the ground.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (4.56): I rise to speak against this motion tonight because I am really concerned at the inference from both Mr Smyth and Mr Hanson about the lack of investment in health for the Tuggeranong community. In the last several years the ACT community has seen a large amount of money invested in healthcare facilities in the ACT. Providing health care closer to communities is a very
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