Page 5492 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

(d) median house prices are determined by the private market;

(e) public transport costs are set by government and are aimed to achieve a broader sustainability policy;

(f) average weekly ordinary time earnings have increased by 54.6 per cent since 2001 (source—ABS);

(g) disposable incomes have increased since 2001 by 69 per cent;

(h) the percentage of medium income dedicated to loan repayments has declined by 0.6 per cent over the period 2003 to 2010 and currently stands at 18 per cent (source—REIA); and

(i) the ACT Government:

(i) has a comprehensive concessions policy and housing affordability action plan that targets those individuals and households requiring additional financial support; and

(ii) recently completed a Concessions Mapping Exercise and, based on the findings, is developing options for consideration that informs the adjustment of future concessions that target vulnerable households. The options will recognise that the major policy levers are not solely controlled by the ACT Government, but that the Commonwealth Government has income support and allowances as well as taxation; and

(2) calls on the Government to advise the Assembly of any concessions policy adjustments when the 2011-2012 budget is tabled.”.

This is a classic of its genre around the use of statistics. Motions such as this always bring up that old truism of “lies, damned lies and statistics” and their use and misuse. Quoting increases in utility prices as the Liberal Party do in this particular motion, including transport and housing costs, and doing it over an extended period as this motion does, is essentially meaningless when the numbers are looked at in isolation. What is needed to make any assessment of changes is the overall context—comparisons, say, against national averages, comparisons against relative prices in other jurisdictions and comparisons on issues like movements in inflation, the consumer price index and relative household incomes; in other words, wages.

We need to look at this motion in a broader context. There needs to be a framework. So we start, in the context of Canberra and prices here, by looking at the consumer price index. Quarterly and annual inflation here in Canberra has in 2010 remained below the national average. In the September quarter 2010, Canberra’s annual inflation was the lowest in Australia. So here we have a motion berating and beating up this government here in Canberra and what do we find when we do a comparative analysis? We find the lowest inflation in Australia. Where is the lowest inflation in Australia in 2010? It is in Canberra, ACT—the lowest inflation so far in 2010.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video