Page 476 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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$700 million to $800 million light rail. Sadly, this is all about cutting costs to pay for a light rail that we cannot afford and we do not need.
Changes to concessions will not only impact elderly individuals and couples in the community when choosing means of transport but also could start to impact on Canberra community groups and facilities too. Canberra schools, universities, churches, sports groups, childcare providers and retirement villages do not pay rates, and now the ACT government’s latest suggestion is that these rate concessions could be removed as well. Like everyone else in the ACT, these organisations will remain in limbo until the June budget.
It is clear that the full effects of these changes on the back pocket of Canberrans will not be known until the government are clear about which concessions will be reduced or cut. However, they have for the past year allowed those who rely on the ACT’s concessions program to endure a scare campaign full of waiting and uncertainty. By the time the June budget rolls around, seniors and other concession card holders will have been waiting almost 18 months for the answers.
A recent survey conducted by the ACT’s Council on the Ageing reflects clearly the lack of support that these changes have in the community. It showed that in the past 12 months more respondents used the motor vehicle registration, energy and utility concessions more than any other concession. It also suggested that of 33 older Canberrans surveyed, 68 per cent did not support the transferring of water and sewerage concessions to the energy and utility concession.
In response to this suggestion, COTA ACT have recommended in their submission that “concessions on utilities and rates should continue to be available at current levels to pensioners and part-pensioners to support low income people to remain in their own homes.” It further recommended that the government examine the potential for flexibility for people to decide how best to use their concessions within the energy and utility rates area.
In the same survey, over three-quarters of respondents did not support the reduction or removal of public transport concessional fares for seniors card holders. Comments indicate that elderly people rely heavily on public transport when they cannot drive and that many people were confused by this proposal, as they believed the government strongly advocated for the use of public transport in Canberra. I can understand their confusion.
Both the motor vehicle registration and public transport concessions have been highlighted to be significantly reduced or completely cut. The government’s message is unclear. The government is also considering cutting the concessions received by part-pensioners. The decision to limit the concessions to 75 per cent would reduce the cost of the program by around $3.5 million per annum to go towards light rail. Has the government considered that not all who receive a part pension from Centrelink are well off and that pensioners often receive only very modest incomes? Yet this government is ready to cut concessions without a moment’s thought to how these changes might affect people’s quality of life.
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