Page 236 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 February 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
government’s policy. It is shameful. It is absolutely shameful that the government would bring on debate today without even letting the opposition know—absolutely shameful. It is not on the daily program. It should have been on the daily program. Instead they wheel out Ms Burch to bring on our motion. It is extremely disappointing.
I hope all of the constituents who are concerned with this matter hear about it and we will be doing everything we can to make sure they do because the very concerns that we have with regard to this policy have been reiterated by their actions today, an extreme discourtesy to the Mr Fluffy owners who are now not going to go back to their blocks because of the land rent changes, absolutely disgraceful on every front.
People who lease their land through the land rent scheme may apply to have their lease converted to a normal lease. However, there are serious changes afoot here. Under this change in policy direction they will need to pay an amount to the government for the lease variation. Under the current scheme the lessee may choose to pay the amount which is equal to either the unimproved value of the lease or the current market value of the lease.
This policy direction will change the variation charge that applies in the case of Mr Fluffy properties. The owners of Mr Fluffy properties who sign up to buy back their properties under the land rent scheme assumed that they were signing up to the same land rent scheme as anybody else in the territory could. They assumed that they were signing up to be able to choose between paying the unimproved value or the market value of the land if they were required to convert their lease to a normal lease.
However, after they have already committed to the land rent scheme the government have changed the rules. They have changed the rules for all these people. The people these policy changes affect are not necessarily well off, sometimes quite the contrary. They are people who have struggled to repurchase their blocks from the government. That is why they have chosen to access the land rent scheme. These people have signed up to the land rent scheme under the assumption that they would be able to convert a normal lease at the cheapest price. That is what they signed up to, and that is why they are doing it—so they can stay in their neighbourhoods. They came to the conclusion that the financial risk was manageable if they had the ability to choose which valuation was used. Now the government have taken away that choice when it is too late for these people.
We are just starting to find out what price former owners are being offered to buy back their blocks. Not surprisingly, the government is trying to squeeze money out of home owners. The prices they are offering for empty blocks are near identical to the prices owners were paid when they had a house on it. In effect they sold a house and land and in return they get land. They lose their house. They lose their house as a result of this policy. This means it is nearly impossible for people to return to their former blocks. This policy change will make it even more difficult for owners. Every increase in the value of the block makes it more difficult. What is most unfair is the way the government have changed the rules on the run, and we have seen indications of how desperate they are through their actions today.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video