Page 3678 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 2011
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February this year, 190 households received the benefit of the concessional duty, totalling approximately $2.2 million.
The homebuyer concession scheme assists people to purchase residential land or a home by charging duty at a concessional rate. Last financial year, more than 2,000 people were assisted through this program. The government is also assisting those on low to moderate incomes with affordable housing by providing Community Housing Canberra with loans of $70 million. Over 10 years these loans will finance 500 properties for affordable sale and 500 for affordable rental. These are real initiatives assisting people in need in our community. These are real incentives which, again if I recall correctly, the shadow treasurer and his colleagues opposed on the floor of this place.
The opposition has claimed that rates have more than doubled over the past two years. Again, this is misleading. Revenue from general rates has doubled. Far from doubling since 2001, general rates have increased by 60 per cent, but continue to do so only in line with the wage price index. This increase is a reflection of the cost of providing municipal and other services to the people of the ACT. It is worth noting that people on low incomes and age pensioners are provided with a concession on their property rates. Despite misleading claims from those opposite, stamp duty payable in the ACT is around the average for capital cities and is lower than in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.
The opposition say that the price paid for electricity has increased by 75 per cent since 2001. This is one of the few factually correct statements they have made. But it is interesting to note that it is considerably lower than the average 93 per cent increase that has been experienced across the rest of the country. The Australian Energy Market Commission’s report on future possible retail electricity price movements shows electricity prices in the ACT are 24 per cent below the national average and the lowest in the country. This is something the opposition do not mention at all in their scaremongering.
The ACT is also forecast to have the smallest increase in electricity prices of all jurisdictions over the next year with an increase of only 6.4 per cent. This compares with 17.3 per cent faced by those just across the border in Queanbeyan. This will increase the typical household electricity bill in the ACT by $86, from $1,332 to $1,418 in 2010-11. I will repeat those figures: from $1,332 to $1,418. By comparison, a typical annual household electricity bill in Queanbeyan will now be $2,484, more than $1,000 per year greater than that faced by ACT residents. The government also provides concessions for electricity and gas costs to alleviate the impact of increases in prices—concessions which, again if I recall correctly, the shadow treasurer and his colleagues opposed in this place.
The opposition has claimed that taxation has increased under the government and has added to cost of living pressures. Let us have a look at the facts. Taxation revenue has grown by 68 per cent. However, it needs to be recognised that revenues increase for a number of reasons, such as population and economic growth. It also needs to be considered in the context of tax rates faced in other jurisdictions.
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