Page 1775 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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efforts in this area. The government has always recognised the importance of providing the community with relevant and meaningful information on impacts of its policies.
In Canberra we enjoy a high standard of living—in fact, the highest standard of living in Australia—something confirmed by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling today. We have high incomes, low unemployment and high quality services. Nevertheless, the government is committed to supporting households and families who find it difficult to meet cost of living pressures. We provide real and practical support for households. Our concessions program is regularly adjusted to provide more appropriate support to reflect increased costs. The government’s targeted assistance strategy will help meet the needs of households experiencing financial hardship.
We will continue to provide open and transparent information on policies and revenue setting through the budget. The government’s view is that this bill today can be improved by focusing on the ACT government taxes and fees that relate directly to households and, importantly, taking into account the impact of concessions.
In presenting the bill, the shadow treasurer stated that the manner in which “the ACT budget is currently prepared does not provide any insight into the consequences of the many decisions it contains for Canberra families”. This is not the case. The government provides transparent information on rates, exemption thresholds and increases to taxes and charges in budget paper No 3. This information is regularly updated on the ACT Revenue Office and other relevant websites. The budget paper also includes a comparison of major taxes in the ACT and New South Wales.
I note that the explanatory memorandum to the private member’s bill indicates:
The analysis of the cost of living effect will be an estimate of the average effect on the average household for the following financial year.
This assessment would include changes to general rates, land and payroll taxes, conveyance duty, motor vehicle registration and driving licences, the utilities network facilities tax and the fire and emergency services levy.
The shadow treasurer has claimed that the cost of living statement “will enable the people of the ACT to have a much better understanding of what is in the annual budget, how it affects them directly and how any taxing measures in the budget will affect their cost of living in the year ahead”.
In presenting the private member’s bill, the shadow treasurer acknowledged that the opposition has “no prescription about the form” of the cost of living statement. Instead, it is left to the government of the day to determine what shall be included in the analysis and how it shall be structured, although I note that the explanatory memorandum is much more prescriptive.
The bill in its current form would not meet the opposition’s stated objectives. Reporting government taxes in isolation will not comprehensively assess overall cost
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