Page 467 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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gets his wish. Nice, fluffy, friendly Mr Hanson goes to the election, being charming and promising everything to everybody. But the reality of what he delivers after the poll, if he is successful, will be very clear for all to see. And this is just an example of the type of position we can expect.
By contrast, we are now in a period of the largest level of public housing investment since self-government. Our last budget alone allocated over $133 million over four years to renew our public housing and to bring it up to standard to ensure that our tenants are living in public housing stock that is more energy efficient, more affordable, more modern and more livable. This, of course, includes the redevelopment of Northbourne Avenue and the provision of new public housing for those tenants.
The parliamentary agreement has also seen the delivery of the Common Ground housing model after many years of community support. It is right now providing essential services for some of our most vulnerable Canberrans, helping break the cycle of homelessness for those who have struggled. The government is investing in our community for now and for the long term. We are making steps towards meeting our future challenges, transforming the shape and feel of our city, and also delivering the day-to-day services in our suburbs.
When it comes to the economy, the Liberals maintain that the government has lost touch with the priorities of Canberra, but I do not think they understand that people do not support the slash-and-burn behaviour we have seen from the federal government. I think the revenue side of the equation is an interesting discussion, and we are now starting to see a bit more sophisticated discussion at a national level about the fact that governments need to generate revenue to pay for the services for our community.
The ACT has taken the difficult and politically challenging task of shifting the taxation base away from inefficient and inequitable stamp duty and insurance taxes towards a broader based land tax approach, an approach lauded by the Prime Minister on national television last weekend when he said this is clearly the best policy approach to take.
I would be interested to know what the position of Mr Hanson and his colleagues is going to be on raising the revenue that they would need to run the services of government should they take office. I would be keen to see the recipe for that magic pudding which looks after all the interests of all Canberrans in the way that Mr Hanson is presenting it. I would like to hear also some acknowledgement that while some taxes and charges are going up, simultaneously other taxes are going down, such as the gradual evolution of insurance taxes and stamp duty. Insurance duty is due to be completely abolished by the end of June, saving households and Canberra businesses hundreds, potentially thousands, of dollars each year. Every single household in Canberra is benefiting from that, not just the people who own houses. Everybody has insurance. Everybody is benefiting from those tax cuts. That is about making our tax system sustainable; it is about making sure that the government has a reliable source of revenue to deliver the services that this city needs.
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