Page 1988 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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Mr Barr: On a point of order, Madam Chair, I seek your ruling on the question of the phrase “telling of porkies”. Has that been ruled upon as unparliamentary before?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: I will consult with the Clerk. I fear there may be a precedent on this and I would not wish to go against it. The Clerk informs me that he believes it has been ruled out of order in the past.
Mr Barr: Perhaps I would seek your assistance in asking the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that statement, Madam Assistant Speaker.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Seselja, given the comment that it has been ruled out of order in the past, I would seek your assistance in withdrawing that comment.
Mr Seselja: I withdraw.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Seselja.
Land Rent Amendment Bill 2012
[Cognate bill:
Duties Amendment Bill 2012]
Debate resumed from 29 March 2012, on motion by Mr Barr:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): I understand it is the wish of the Assembly to debate this bill cognately with executive business order of the day No 4, the Duties (Amendment) Bill 2012. That being the case, I remind members that in debating order of the day No 3, executive business, they may also address their remarks to executive business order of the day No 4.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.37): At the outset I will say what the Liberal Party’s approach will be to the two bills, because it will be different. In relation to the Land Rent Amendment Bill, we will not be opposing that. Whilst we do not support the land rent scheme, we do not see anything in particular in these amendments that we have an objection to. We think that there may well be some improvement in the land rent scheme, albeit minor, through these amendments, so we will not be opposing them. When it comes to the second aspect, the Duties Amendment Bill, we will not be supporting the bill. I will get to the reasons for that in a moment.
There are a lot of unfinished sentences in the saga of the government’s land rent scheme. ACT Labor developed some fairly polished lines to sell this scheme, but it failed to mention some of the key corollaries. Here is an example. They had an ad in the Canberra Times that said: “The Scheme will allow eligible households to pay rent on land rather than purchase it. It will help a number of households who might not otherwise be able to buy their own home to have access to the housing market.” At the
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