Page 3677 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
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Mr Coe: The question was: when will stamp duty be removed—in effect, when will it be abolished, not where it is at at the moment.
MADAM SPEAKER: You are trying to put a point of order about being directly relevant. The question you asked was: when will stamp duty be removed? So far Mr Barr has said that it has been removed in some places. I will remind Mr Barr of the question, but I think that it is reasonable to give a sequential process as well.
MR BARR: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The government’s proposal is for stamp duty to be phased out over a 20-year period—so in the mid-2030s. However, we are providing rolling five-year reviews of the tax reform process and we reserve the right to make adjustments to either bring that forward or push it back according to the economic circumstances of the time.
Energy—solar
MS PORTER: My question is to the Minister for the Environment. Minister, earlier this month you announced that the ACT’s solar auction was a finalist for a national award. Can you please give the Assembly more information about this?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Porter for the question. Yes, I am pleased to advise members that the Banksia Foundation, a national not-for-profit organisation which promotes environmental excellence and sustainability through its awards, known as the Banksia awards, has listed the ACT’s solar auction policy as a finalist for a national award.
The Banksia Sustainability Awards are Australia’s most prestigious and longest running sustainability awards program. They were founded in 1989 by a diverse group of Australians who shared a common goal to do more to support and recognise members of the community for their positive contribution to the environment. After 26 years, the foundation continues to provide a positive platform to showcase the best in Australian invention, innovation and ingenuity in the all-important area of sustainability.
I was therefore very pleased to learn that the Environment and Planning Directorate has been selected as a finalist in the local government and sustainability award category for their work on the ACT’s large-scale solar auction. The Banksia Sustainability Awards recognise the development and application of innovations that use new approaches, technologies and/or energy systems for business and community benefit.
Our solar auction process has been selected because of its innovative approach. It was the first use of a reverse auction process in Australia. Though the reverse auction has been used in other countries like South Africa, India and Brazil, our policy was specifically designed to overcome problems faced by other reverse auction processes, the main issue being that low bid prices are achieved but many projects are not delivered.
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