Page 209 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014

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It is unfortunate that the government will not simply look at this. The fact that they do not have some of the data is somewhat disturbing. It shows again that from the start this was a flawed system, badly thought out and badly administered, because the government did not get it right. As we progress, and as I outlined earlier, the growing ratio of the number of contracts being handed back is quite extraordinary. It will be interesting to see how that trend continues over time.

Having said that, I appreciate that the government is not going to do anything. We will go back to our constituents and direct them to this Hansard so that they can see how truly caring the Greens and the Labor Party are about their circumstances, and that the only excuse seems to be that it would be too much of a bureaucratic nightmare to change from an old scheme to a new scheme. It is a nightmare, apparently. Yes, it is a nightmare for some now. The scheme has been a nightmare from the start. We have all seen the difficulties, the troubles and the problems that it has had. I predict that some time in the future there will be further changes to the government’s land rent legislation, simply because, as you watch those declining ratios, it will get worse and worse. As others, I suspect, find themselves trapped, not with what they wanted, which was the home of their dreams but, indeed, with a debt that may become a burden, and without actually gaining any increase in the equity of what they thought they were purchasing.

We will watch, we will continue to monitor, we will continue to hold the government accountable, and I commend the motion to the Assembly.

Question put:

That the motion be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

Ayes 8

Noes 9

Mr Coe

Ms Lawder

Mr Barr

Ms Gallagher

Mr Doszpot

Mr Smyth

Ms Berry

Mr Gentleman

Mrs Dunne

Mr Wall

Dr Bourke

Ms Porter

Mr Hanson

Ms Burch

Mr Rattenbury

Mrs Jones

Mr Corbell

Question so resolved in the negative.

Budget—deficit

MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (4.47): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that in the Government’s 2013-14 Budget Review released on Wednesday, 12 February 2014:

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