Page 1300 - Week 05 - Thursday, 18 June 2020
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package; we have reduced a range of fees and charges, provided utilities rebates and established a new national recognised infection control training program for workers.
Despite the recent significant struggles, the resilience and agility of our community and our business sector through this time has been inspiring. Workers across Canberra have adapted, often to very changed working environments, and quickly set up new ways of working and communicating. Businesses have innovated, developing new ways of selling and distributing their products and services and engaging with customers.
To support our local businesses, and all of their hard work and their aspirations for the future, the government has launched a major “buy local” advertising campaign that is in market now and will continue for several months across all media. We are encouraging people to spend money in the territory economy, maximising the multiplier effect and helping our community to recover quickly.
Yesterday I announced that we will continue our reforms of the tax system but adjust them for the circumstances we are in. We are continuing to cut stamp duty. We have removed a significant barrier to home owner entry, making it easier for Canberrans to buy a home with our reductions in stamp duty and the expansion of the home buyer concession scheme. Removing and reducing inefficient and ineffective taxes like stamp duty and insurance duty is why we started the tax reform journey. Our objective is to continue reducing stamp duty in a measured and targeted way.
Earlier this month, I announced significant cuts to stamp duty on new land and off-the-plan construction. This is an important stimulatory measure for the ACT construction and real estate industries. This means that any owner-occupier purchase for an off-the-plan unit-titled property below a value of half a million dollars will be free of stamp duty until 30 June 2021, and those between $500,000 and $750,000 will have an $11,400 reduction on their stamp duty bill. We have also removed stamp duty for the purchase of new single residential land for owner-occupiers. This is a decision to deliberately inject more cash into the economy.
Three months ago I announced a $150 rates rebate for all households. Inclusive of this rebate, the average rates increases for houses and units across the city will be zero per cent for 2020-21. The average increase for commercial properties with an average unimproved value of $2 million or less will also be zero per cent for 2020-21. For residential properties, this means that there will be an actual rates reduction for over 110,000 Canberra households. For commercial properties, it means an actual rates reduction for 4,600 commercial property owners. By constructing our economic stimulus in this way, we can ensure that support is maximised to those properties with the lowest AUV growth, providing the greatest equity while still reducing inefficient taxes.
We have provided significant support for the community sector. A $7 million package for community organisations was one of our first announcements, to ensure that we were able to best meet the increased service demand for emergency relief across our community. The government knows the impact this year has had on the mental health of Canberrans. That is why, on 6 May, we announced a $4½ million COVID mental
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