Page 2343 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 12 August 2014
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chips and soft drinks at their local matches to keep the fees at an affordable level why they have to pay more for their grounds that have not had upgrades in years when money appears to be so freely available for seating and improvements at Manuka Oval or further developments such as the $750,000 for beach volleyball.
We need to be mindful that Canberra has unique opportunities for sport that need to be protected and developed, and not just in what might be called mainstream sports like football or tennis but in a range of other popular local activities. For example, in equestrian sports we have the makings of an international-class facility here. We have enthusiastic show jumping, dressage and eventing clubs whose members compete regularly at national and, in some cases, international level. With the right investments, we could attract major international equestrian events that would also drive tourism. So, too, with motocross and mountain biking. And if we could only get our lakes into a more reliable condition, we could also run regular major rowing and dragon boating regattas. Again, all that might feed into the Treasurer’s Olympic plan.
Canberra prides itself on high participation in recreation and sporting activities. We need to ensure we protect our recreational space and keep a sensible balance. We must keep our Olympic dreams, by all means, Mr Barr, but ensure that we have not forgotten local sports and local clubs that are the breeding grounds for tomorrow’s sports stars.
MRS JONES (Molonglo) (4.40): I am pleased to add my voice to the debate on the budget, particularly in the area of Treasury taxation. Whilst exploring this budget during estimates, I put to the Treasurer a real situation of a real family who lives in Spence. After tax, the father of that family brings home $65,000 a year. He is a teacher. They spend $14,380 per year on transport costs with one car and bus use. They spend $34,840 on housing—over half their income to keep a roof over their heads. They have worked to save and buy their own home—and it is a small home—to raise their children and have an asset for their future housing security. They are a responsible couple, the kind of Canberrans the government should be getting behind, nurturing, and looking forward to being stronger citizens in the future.
They have taken responsibility for their own future. They do not expect anyone else, including the government, to look after them. They are standing on their own two feet. But Mr Barr is tugging at the rug under their feet. They spend $15,000 a year on food, $1,800 on communications for a phone and internet, $5,250 on medical expenses—health insurance, doctors’ visits, prescriptions et cetera—and $2,000 for unexpected expenses or entertainment. They do not go on holidays. They do not have Foxtel. Their kids do not play sports and they attend a public school.
They are not complaining; they are getting by. But what are they getting for their increase of 10 or 13 per cent in their rates this year? If an insurance company increased the premiums by 10 per cent in one year, this family, along with everyone else, would naturally find another supplier. However, the Treasurer knows here in the ACT he has a captive market. The government holds a monopoly on supply of municipal services, health, education and policing. What is this family and other hardworking families to do? They currently live on minus $57 a year. Add 10 per cent to their rates—which takes it from $1,400 to $1,540—and that puts them $197 per
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