Page 4071 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 December 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Canberra address. He has now been into an Access Canberra shopfront and has been told that his Victorian licence with his Canberra address is not allowed as proof of residency. Minister, how can this happen, and are you at all embarrassed about it?
MS CHEYNE: This is the first I have heard of this, so I will take advice. I do not comment publicly on individual matters due to privacy, but I am happy to have a further conversation with Ms Lawder to try to get to the bottom of this. It does sound highly unusual, and I am very happy to work with her and her constituent to sort out this matter.
MS LAWDER: Minister, have you contacted Victorian government agency VicRoads to understand how they have been able to issue licences during this period?
MS CHEYNE: No, Madam Speaker.
DR PATERSON: Minister, are the Access Canberra shopfronts open and functioning as per usual now?
MS CHEYNE: Yes, Access Canberra shopfronts are open and functioning. I am pleased to say the wait times continue to decrease as the latent demand has been serviced. Shopfronts are open in Gungahlin, Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Woden. The Dickson one is only open for certain purposes at this stage, but it will reopen fully in February.
I remind Canberrans that almost all transactions with Access Canberra can be done online. It is really just licence plates and where photo ID is required that people need to be present at a shopfronts. But, of course, if people would like to go to a shopfront and need that face-to-face assistance Access Canberra stands ready to assist all Canberrans.
Land—valuations
MS CASTLEY: My question is to the Treasurer. Are Canberrans’ privately owned homes valued each year for rates purposes? If not, how are valuations adjusted in the years when no valuation is done?
MR BARR: People’s homes are not valued; the land is subject to an annual valuation process. That process includes an assessment taken by expert valuers, and it is informed by market transactions across the territory.
MS CASTLEY: Chief Minister, what benchmarking or testing, if any, does ACT Revenue do on draft independent valuations to validate them before issuing new rates?
MR BARR: There is a process each year where valuations are adjusted, reflecting market conditions. There is a process where those valuations can be appealed by individual landowners. Of course, the overall land values in the territory simply reflect the proportion of the total rates base that is paid by each individual landowner. The government sets a revenue target; that revenue target is then divided by all of the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video