Page 228 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 February 2018
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rates, they first calculated the rates and then divided it. That might seem complex—or quite the opposite: maybe it sounds very simple. But, one way or another, it has had a massive impact. The reason is that it has pushed entire complexes into an upper marginal threshold with regard to the rates that they are paying. No longer is pretty much every unit in Canberra in the lowest threshold. Now, virtually all of them are in the upper threshold, the top threshold. That has had a huge increase on the rates that people are paying.
In addition to that, over the same period, there has been a huge increase with regard to the fixed component of the rates bill. There have also been significant increases to the fire and emergency services levy. We have had the introduction of the safer families levy and all the other taxes, fees, and charges that the government has brought in along the way. To put this in perspective, in 2012 the ACT government brought in $209 million from rates. In last year’s budget it was $444 million. It has gone from $209 million through to $444 million.
Of course, that is just part of the picture. There is also land tax in that mix. There is stamp duty. There are insurance levies, the safer families levy, and the fire and emergency services levy. You have to tally them all up and then compare 2012 to the present. When you do that, when you tally up the tax mix, as the Treasurer referred to it, you can see that in 2012 it was $667 million and in 2017 it was $895 million. This is meant to be revenue neutral. In the same time there was an increase of only eight per cent in the population of Canberra. It is staggering, Madam Speaker.
We are, of course, an island. We are an island with councils on either side of us that are competing. Both Queanbeyan and the Yass Valley are well and truly in the capital’s housing market. We have competitive federalism in action. We have the New South Wales government and these two neighbouring councils competing, and they are winning that race.
The reason they are winning that race is that the ACT government have given up. They have given up trying to provide an affordable product for Canberrans. They are happy to continue to gouge people at every step along the way, whether it is in the construction phase, in terms of the land, where they are in effect a monopoly provider; whether it is in the lease variation charge; whether it is in the huge expense in passing the regulatory hurdles in construction; or whether it is the ongoing fees and charges they charge through rates and land taxes.
Canberra is becoming unaffordable for many people. It is no wonder that, in what can often be an apathetic town when it comes to local politics, thousands of people have chosen to sign a petition to say it is unfair. It is unfair. The petitioners are asking for some justice and some fairness: two principles that the Labor Party espouse but the local Labor Party fail to live up to.
They have created a two-pace society. There is one pace for Canberrans that can keep up. There is one pace for people who can afford an extra $200, $300, $400 or $500 per year on their rates. There is another pace for people who are failing to keep up. They are struggling. Andrew Barr’s only response to them is that somehow this is
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