Page 764 - Week 03 - Thursday, 2 April 2020
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There are situations, of course, where the commercial ratepayer will also be the tenant; they will be effectively owner-occupied. In those circumstances it would then automatically flow on because there is not a landlord-tenant relationship.
This is, of course, incredibly complex and subject to some further national cabinet deliberations. Rather than trying to verbally describe every single possible example, we will provide detail to the opposition in relation to the application of these measures as they apply to both category 1, the first phase of our economic stimulus, and the ones that we have just announced today.
MR WALL: Chief Minister, can you be slightly more specific as to which businesses will be required to apply for the concession? For example, will a gym that has been forcibly closed as a result of these measures be automatically entitled to and receive the rates waiver or will they still be required to apply?
MR BARR: It will depend on whether the gym owner also owns their building or whether they are in a landlord-tenant relationship. In order for the rebate to apply to a landlord, they must pass it on to the tenant. That is the complex element here that we have been working through, because this should not be an exercise in rebating landlords and tenants seeing none of the benefit of that. Landlords cannot continue to charge full rent to a tenant who has no capacity to earn income, then expect to get a government benefit and still continue charging full rent to that tenant. The Prime Minister has been very clear about that throughout this process.
We will provide further detailed information to the opposition on the implementation of this. Elements of this still need to be worked through at a national level. Every jurisdiction is going through this process. It is a complex area of law, and it is a complex set of private commercial interactions that government is having to insert itself into. There have been hours and hours of meetings between treasurers, attorneys-general, first ministers, departments and key stakeholders right across the nation on this, but we are getting closer to an absolute, definitive answer. Codes of conduct between landlords and tenants have been led by those organisations at a national level. There are many complexities here, but the broad principle is that benefits from government, tax relief, should be provided to those who need them most and must be passed on to tenants. Banks and government will also be supporting landlords.
Homelessness—COVID-19
MS LE COUTEUR: My question is to the Minister for Housing and relates to emergency accommodation. Minister, what measures are being put in place for people who are homeless, particularly if they happen to be in need of quarantine or isolation? I ask this particularly given that Safe Shelter has ceased operation for this season, due to COVID-19. What will happen to the people who could otherwise have gone there?
MS BERRY: I thank Ms Le Couteur for her question. There has been a significant amount of work done on developing an alternative model, given the closure of Safe Shelter due to COVID-19. I will have more to say on that soon. We are just working through the detail with service providers in the ACT, but it will be within the next
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