Page 3010 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
and federal governments have seen higher than expected revenues and better than expected economic performance, largely because of the important industrial changes undertaken by the Australian government. Earlier this week the federal Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello, announced updated forecasts showing better than expected economic performance across Australia. His reaction to this new information has been the exact opposite—the exact opposite—of the reaction of the ACT Treasurer when he was presented with better than anticipated results at the end of the June quarter.
Far from ruling out tax cuts, as was recently done by Mr Stanhope under similar circumstances, the federal Treasurer announced that Australia’s better than expected economic performance has given scope for tax cuts at the commonwealth level. He has announced a policy to reduce the rates of taxation over a five-year period and to increase the thresholds for tax brackets. This means that when the Australian government is re-elected in November, Australians will be able to look forward to tax cuts which will reduce the burden on their finances and allow them to take greater control of their own lives.
The pattern of management of economic matters under this government has been one of grab more and spend more. We see this in very, very sharp contrast to the actions of their federal colleagues. At the national level we have tax cuts worth $34 billion for the next three years and a tax cut goal for five years which will see the top tax rate of 45 per cent on income above $180,000 cut to 43 per cent on 1 July 2009, and then down to 42 per cent on 1 July 2010. Mr Costello has declared that he wants it eventually to fall to 40 per cent by 2012. It is interesting that the 30 per cent tax rate which applies for income between $30,000 and $75,000 will have its threshold changed to $34,000 in 2009 and to $37,000 by 2010.
All this is well and good, but it is a tragedy when the concessions that have been handed out by the Australian government under the Howard-Costello leadership are being eroded on a constant basis by the taxing mania of the ACT government: the utilities tax, the ambulance charge increases, the increases in rates, the increases in the fire and emergency services levy and the water abstraction charge. And the list goes on.
This is a situation that most Canberrans will find unacceptable, and I am confident that, come next October, when the people of Canberra have the opportunity to decide between the economic policies of the Stanhope government and the economic plan of the ACT Liberals, people will decide to go for the low taxing, prudently managed form of government as opposed to the high spending, wasteful and poorly managed style of government that has been a feature particularly of the last several years.
In the ACT where we have been fortunate due to the boom in construction, driven in no small way by the conduct of the commonwealth government and the developing of new departmental headquarters, this has created prosperity for numerous areas of activity in our city: architects, designers and those in the construction sector. It has created new retail opportunities that have enabled Canberra business entrepreneurs to develop new businesses. It has seen people come from interstate and set up business in Canberra, particularly in the Canberra Centre. All of these things are a direct consequence of sensible economic activity. But sensible economic activity also
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .