Page 3004 - Week 09 - Thursday, 21 September 2006

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proposals for the closing of ACT schools, including Cook Primary School; and, secondly, to institute an inquiry into means by which continuing and increasing advantage is taken of the excellence of the ACT’s public schools.

Hawker—dog exercise area

By Ms Porter, from 315 residents:

To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory

This petition of certain residents of the Australian Capital Territory draws to the attention of the Assembly that: dog owners who are residents of Hawker or Weetangera are currently being disadvantaged by the siting of dog “off-leash” areas that are positioned in areas that are either dangerous, ill-thought out, or situated so that they are difficult to reach for residents wishing to use dog-walking as a means of physical recuperation or the maintenance of levels of health appropriate to current standards.

Your petitioners therefore request the Assembly to: institute changes to permit that strip of land between the rear fences of the houses in Hawker backing onto the Pinnacle Reserve and the wire fence of the Reserve itself, stretching from Springvale Drive to William Hovell Drive, to be deemed an area suitable for dogs to be walked “off-leash”.

The Clerk having announced that the terms of the petitions would be recorded in Hansard and a copy of each referred to the appropriate minister, the petitions were received.

Duties Amendment Bill 2006 (No 2)

Mr Stanhope, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Minister for the Arts) (10.32): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

The Duties Amendment Bill 2006 (No 2) provides further tax relief to the ACT business community. Under the intergovernmental agreement on the reform of commonwealth state financial relations (IGA) which underpins the introduction of the GST, the states and territories agreed to cease the application of certain business taxes. The ACT fulfilled this commitment by abolishing financial institutions duty in 2001, duty on quoted marketable securities in 2001, debits tax in 2005 and duty on non-real core business assets on 1 July 2006.

The IGA also committed the states and territories to review the need to retain other specified business taxes. The outcome of the ACT review was the package of tax reform


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