Page 467 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
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we see here today with this motion is Mr Coe replicating the actions of his conservative idol Mr Tony Abbott. The words he spoke are the very hollow ones that Mr Abbott spoke in opposition. He then proceeded to cut support for the most vulnerable Australians when in office. This playbook must not be replicated. This opposition leader’s fondness for Mr Abbott extends to laziness and mendacity.
I draw the chamber’s attention to the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission’s media release of 4 February this year. It says:
The Commission’s draft decision, based on data to 29 January, estimates that a typical customer on ActewAGL’s standing offer contracts could expect to see a 6.75 per cent reduction in average retail electricity prices in 2020-21 …
We are achieving this at a time when this city is powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Madam Assistant Speaker, Mr Coe is not fit to govern, let alone lead anything. No wonder there were so few of his colleagues in the chamber when he moved this motion. And it is his set motion this week.
Contrast Mr Coe’s motion to the amendment moved by the Chief Minister and the chief’s remarks. They show a comprehensive step that this government is taking to help all Canberrans. I am proud of this government’s economic achievement and the fact that they have more job vacancies here in the ACT than job seekers in this city.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (11.10): I am grateful to Mr Coe for moving this very important motion in the Assembly today. Far too many families and households in the Ginninderra electorate are worried about Canberra’s soaring cost of living, often deeply so. As this motion notes, Canberrans are paying more than ever before for rates, taxes, fees and charges. As we also know, cost-of-living increases disproportionately affect lower income households.
On average, those living in my electorate have the territory’s lowest income. Our Belconnen households take home nearly $200 less per week than the territory average, but they are paying only $13 less per week to service their mortgages and only $20 less per week on rent. That means that people in the Ginninderra electorate are facing many of the same expenses as their neighbours but have less in their pockets to meet those expenses. This puts enormous pressure on families and individuals.
And after 19 years, our tired old Labor-Greens government seems to have no clue how much people are suffering or what the government should be doing to make things better. As a result, the cost of living in the ACT continues to go up at a rate far greater than in other jurisdictions. In the past year, housing costs in Canberra increased 4.8 per cent compared to a national average of 1.5 per cent. At the same time, utility bills in Canberra soared 5.9 per cent compared to only two per cent nationally, and transport costs increased 4.8 per cent compared to 2.8 per cent elsewhere.
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