Page 2068 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 June 2015
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a further 12 months on beyond that, a restoration of the grant at the $7,000 level. So the stimulus period will have run for about four years and the grant is simply returning to where it started, at $7,000.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: Treasurer, is it true that the cut in stamp duty is significantly less than this cut in the first home owners grant, leaving people worse off?
MR BARR: No, because for eligible first homebuyers the stamp duty rate is just $20, not the $20,000-plus that Mr Hanson wants first homebuyers to pay.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Wall.
MR WALL: Treasurer, is your policy simply driving people over the border into new greenfields such as Tralee and Googong?
MR BARR: No.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Wall.
MR WALL: Treasurer, isn’t it true that no house at any value has had its stamp duty cut in this year’s budget by $5,500?
MR BARR: The cumulative impact of stamp duty cuts since tax reform began in 2012 sees a property at around the $500,000 mark receiving a $5,900 stamp duty cut from when the reform process began. This year’s budget contains cuts for properties in the mid range of around $1,200 that builds on the previous $4,700 of tax cuts. As I am sure Mr Wall would be aware, we have cut stamp duty in every budget while I have been Treasurer, and we will continue to cut stamp duty in every budget while I am Treasurer.
The cumulative effect of our stamp duty cuts means that a Canberran purchasing an average-value Canberra home is saving more than $6,000 in stamp duty. The Leader of the Opposition wants to put that tax back up. That is his position. He is the man who wants to put stamp duty up. He is the man who wants to put the tax on insurance back up. That is “Taxing Jeremy”—tax you when you buy a home, tax you when you take out an insurance policy. He is the man who wants to levy the worst taxes. It is “Inefficient Jeremy”—the one who wants to tax—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Sit down, Mr Barr. I draw your attention to the persistent and continuous ruling in this place: you will refer to people by their names and their titles. I was going to let it go until the end of the answer to the question, but you persisted in breaking the rules. Do you have anything more to say in answer to the question?
MR BARR: Not in the remaining six seconds, Madam Speaker.
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