Page 702 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 March 1991
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MS FOLLETT: I have a supplementary question. Will the Treasurer repeat the assurance that he gave at the time of imposing that petrol tax that the tax will be imposed only for two years?
MR KAINE: Yes.
Retail Trading Hours
MR STEVENSON: My question, I believe, is to the Chief Minister. If not, would he be good enough to pass it on. It is about retail trading hours. Are some major retail stores in Canberra in contravention of the Sunday trading law by opening? If so, what action has been taken? If not, what is the reason for that inaction?
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I know of no contravention, but I will take the question on notice and get a comprehensive answer to Mr Stevenson's question.
Office Space
MS MAHER: My question is also to the Chief Minister. Can the Chief Minister inform the Assembly as to how Canberra compares with other capital cities around Australia in terms of the current office space vacancy rate?
MR KAINE: Yes, I can, Mr Speaker. In fact we compare very favourably, almost incredibly, with the rest of Australia in this matter. On the basis of figures released only today by the Business Owners and Managers Association, the vacancy rate in office accommodation in Canberra is at an incredibly low 1.8 per cent. I would have thought that that would have been an incredible figure even in good financial times. In today's world I find it quite astonishing. But that in fact is the case. That compares, Mr Speaker, with something like an 8 per cent vacancy rate in Sydney and something of the order of 13 per cent in Melbourne. In Hobart, which comes pretty close to us, the vacancy rate is, I understand, around 6 per cent.
While Opposition members constantly prattle on about the dreadful state of the economy in Canberra and blow-outs in budgets and the like, the facts belie that. Our economy is still holding up. Our budget in general is one of the few budgets in Australia that have not fallen apart in recent months. We are still very much on track with our total budget, and I want to put that in the record. We are on track with our budget. This is simply another statistic that shows the strength of our economy.
Mrs Grassby: It is incredible. He can tell lies barefaced.
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