Page 4550 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 6 December 1994
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Mrs Carnell: Because New South Wales gave you no choice.
MADAM SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.
MS FOLLETT: I would like to contrast that performance with what occurred under the Liberal Alliance Government. Their one and only budget was an object lesson in how not to do your budget. Not only did they resort to an extraordinary amount of borrowings, over $57m; they also increased the general rates - this is the rates that every household pays - by 16.6 per cent.
Mr De Domenico: That is not true.
MS FOLLETT: It is true. They introduced the petrol tax surcharge of 3c a litre. They introduced the ambulance service levy. The Liberal Alliance Government, in their one and only budget, increased the rate of land tax by 33 per cent. They increased the motor vehicle registration fees by 20 per cent. They doubled the rate of financial institutions duty; that is, a 100 per cent increase, for those opposite that are floundering. They also introduced a tax on the acquisition of businesses. The absolute triumph of the Liberals' tax regime was of course the ill-fated X-rated video tax. You did it, not us. This Government has a very proud record on revenue achievement, as we have on every aspect of financial management. The amount of chaos, the amount of interjection, the amount of anger that is being expressed by the Liberals opposite simply endorses every word that I have said.
Superannuation Liability
MR KAINE: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister and Treasurer. She has just spoken about how well the Government has done and how well she has served the people of the Territory by her accounting. However, there is one way in which she has not served the Territory well. It is referred to by the Auditor-General in report No. 8 at pages 42 to 45. It has to do with the funding of superannuation liabilities. I draw the Chief Minister's attention to that report, because the Auditor-General makes a couple of points. He notes that the unfunded superannuation liability as at 30 June 1994 was just over $316m and that this equates to approximately $1,053 of superannuation debt for every person in the ACT. He also notes that this level has increased over the past three years, both in absolute terms and in relative terms. There is a table on page 45 that shows that in 1991-92 the unfunded liability was about $153m. It is now $316m. It has more than doubled in two years. This is a debt that the taxpayer is going to have to pick up eventually. Even Queensland has gone for full funding. Chief Minister, why have you consistently, over the last three years of your stewardship, done nothing to address this major, increasing funding problem?
MS FOLLETT: I thank Mr Kaine for the question, Madam Speaker. It is very generous of him to have asked it. It is the case that, amongst Australian governments, only the Queensland and ACT governments have made any realistic attempt to fund their superannuation liabilities. In fact, the approach that the ACT Government has taken to the management of our superannuation liabilities has been an extremely responsible one.
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