Page 463 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Secondly, this magic pudding problem is exacerbated by the fact that the Liberal Party is promising a whole lot of extra things, such as the return of school buses, primarily for private schools that are already covered by other routes. Again, returning these school buses means taking buses from other routes, so which routes will be cut? The community needs to know this.
Thirdly, as most of us know, the progressive tax reform program that has led to rate rises is contingent on the abolition of other taxes in the ACT, such as stamp duty. The question for Mr Coe is: will he be reinstating all of those other taxes? Will stamp duty go up again? Will insurance tax come back? Certainly, if stamp duty goes up again, that is not good for first home buyers, and if stamp duty is to be abolished then it is just another slice of Mr Coe’s magic pudding, and the question is: which services will be cut in return?
Fourthly, I urge Mr Coe not to overlook the fact that a large proportion of Canberrans do not pay rates. They are not property owners. These are people like renters, and we saw recently how the Liberals opposed reforms to offer more rights to renters. The non-ratepayers also include a large cohort of people who are genuinely struggling with disadvantage. They might be single mums, survivors of domestic violence, people with a disability, homeless people or people sleeping rough, people who have addiction or mental health issues, people who have been incarcerated, and others.
I do not believe that Mr Coe and the Liberals are interested in policies to help these people. Just as Mr Coe said he would not waive fines for people who are genuinely falling through the cracks and struggling in our society, but rather said he would waive fines for people who park illegally at the school fete, the Liberal approach appears to be one of populism and electioneering. The Greens will be supporting the amendment moved by Mr Barr.
MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (10.55): Canberra is a beautiful place in which to live, and we are very lucky. But Canberrans are hurting, and people in Tuggeranong are hurting. I know this because at every mobile office that I hold at a shopping centre people tell me about cost of living pressures. With every door I knock on, people talk about cost of living pressures. At every school fete I attend, people talk to me about cost of living pressures. At every sporting event I attend, people talk to me about cost of living pressures. At every meeting I hold, people talk about cost of living pressures.
After 19 years of this Labor government, Canberrans are struggling with the cost of living. Many of us are fortunate. Many of us have a privileged position in terms of the income that we have. But that is not the case for every Canberran, and we cannot let our own privileged position poison our view of how people out there in the suburbs of Tuggeranong are suffering.
After year after year of record revenue, the ACT government has still amassed $3 billion in debt. Canberrans are paying more than ever before in rates, taxes, fees and charges. Let us not forget that we have the most expensive average rent in the country, and the ACT government is receiving record revenue from the commonwealth. We cannot keep blaming external factors, as the Chief Minister likes
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video