Page 3057 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 16 September 2015

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transport infrastructure, the renewed bus interchanges and development and investment in rapid bus corridors adds to the business viability of Belconnen, encouraging more urban infill there.

In Belconnen, our electorate is confident and business ready. It is a great environment to base a business, to study, to work, to live and to enjoy a great lifestyle in our most livable of town centres in this most livable city. We are implementing the confident & business ready strategy, and the ACT government continues to work to ensure Canberra’s business environment remains competitive and attractive for future investments in this great city. I commend the motion to the Assembly.

Motion agreed to.

Lease variation charge

MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (11.06): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes the Lease Variation Charge’s (LVC):

(a) distorting market effects on Canberra’s housing sector;

(b) negative impact on stimulating investments, redevelopments and jobs in our city;

(c) impeding effects on encouraging adaptive reuse in our town centres and increasing housing stock in desirable locations;

(d) continued revenue underperformance and inability to fund the Government’s Urban Improvement Fund; and

(e) unreasonable increased costs to redevelopment projects, which in turn is passed onto homebuyers;

(2) notes the Chief Minister’s:

(a) public statement on 10 September 2015 that the impacts of the LVC on our local economy are not a “high priority”; and

(b) continued position that the LVC is a developers tax, and not a tax on housing affordability; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) reduce the LVC to 0% for four years in Civic and Canberra town centres by the 2016-2017 ACT Budget; and

(b) provide the Assembly with a quarterly update on measures it is taking to make this happen.

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