Page 3012 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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We are becoming tired of having a very, very significant tax burden thrown at our feet in the last year on the pretext that the territory needed the money. Well, we know from the outcomes and we know from the financial reports that this territory does not need this level of income, this level of revenue, and that it ought to be put back to the people who need it. There are people in this territory, many of whom I speak to, many of whom I deal with, particularly in the over 50 mark, who may not be cash rich, but they may be asset rich. The fact is that as their properties increases in value—and they have increased substantially in Canberra in the last five to seven years—many of those people are finding it a struggle to pay the rates bills because of the basis on which they are valued.
I am not suggesting that we completely upend the rating system. It is extremely complex and the various alternative approaches that are being put forward have left me unconvinced at this time. But one has to be cognisant of the fact that many people do struggle to pay those bills. You are not asking them, surely, at the age of 80, to sell off their home, pack it in and go somewhere else because their house has appreciated in value and they are struggling to pay their rates bills. I am aware that there are exemptions, but if you deal with older people in our community you understand that they have a fixation, in many cases, about leaving debt. They do not want to leave the debt for their children. They want to leave life with a clean slate, and whether or not that makes good economic sense, let us respect that individual view.
When we have got those pressures already on our senior citizens why go and make life worse for them by saying that for every utility you have got, Jon Stanhope’s government is going to grab a bit more out of your pocket; he is going to apply a little bit more and make your life a little bit more difficult. Yes, I know that they can attach bills to the property and the like, but this is the distress that these taxes and charges cause people. You have to actually deal with older people on a regular basis to appreciate that those sorts of things become important issues.
I appeal to the government: go give back some of those surplus funds that they have at their disposal. They are aware that they have the capacity to redistribute some of this income that was inappropriately collected. This is a simple measure. It has been fully and thoroughly costed. It is within the capacity of ACT finances. It will not, as Mr Stanhope attempted to spin doctor yesterday, drive us into a state of deficit. It is, in fact, a measure that is quite responsible. It is in the order of about $16.5 million in revenue that will be forgone, but what an enormous message it would send to the people of Canberra to say, “Look, we in this territory, we in this Assembly collectively are of the view that we should not be unreasonably taxing you. We should not be taking funds out of your pockets when we really do not need to.”
Look at the revenue that has come in on conveyancing and the like. I know that there is a boom period ahead for the next couple of years in terms of construction activity. I have talked to property lawyers in this town and they tell me that right through until at least 2009-10 we will continue to see this level of economic activity. That is not to mention what the commonwealth government is doing in terms of job creation that the Howard government has committed to as part of its next forward program. When we have all these factors, when we have these positive indicators we know that there is a compelling and convincing argument to deliver tax relief for the people of Canberra.
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