Page 2263 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2016
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which consistently has probably one of the lowest rates of job creation, this same business would be paying only $422,000. It is still a significant amount but the ACT at that point is in excess of $100,000 dearer. It seems that the greatest inhibitor to jobs growth in this territory is the taxation policies of Mr Barr.
As we know, in Canberra the lease variation charge also stands as one of the most important inhibitors of growth and investment in this city, particularly in our town centres, and it has created a vacuum of missed opportunities alongside an unwarranted cost burden to business. I am proud to reiterate that the Canberra Liberals, should we win government in October, will halt the lease variation charge for development in Canberra’s CBD and also in the town centres. This will provide an opportunity for growth and renewal in the property sector but will also create jobs in the construction industry and new investment opportunities.
Our commitment to scrap the lease variation charge has also been further vindicated in this year’s budget where the LVC has collected only a quarter of what the government forecast in last year’s budget, proving that this is, once and for all, an inefficient tax. Surprisingly—and the Treasurer promises it is our path to surplus, it is the never-ending magic pudding—the lease variation charge is expected to increase by 251 per cent in its revenue take this financial year, a figure that has never ever been able to be substantiated, a figure that has not been achieved in past budgets. Why this year will by any different we are all still wondering.
In relation to this charge, the Property Council is quoted as saying:
The lease variation charge is an anti-competitive tax which handicaps private sector innovation and investment, especially where we need it most.
We agree and, instead of sitting on our hands, the Canberra Liberals will act.
The Labor-Greens government are constantly telling us that they are reducing red tape but in actual fact there is no evidence to suggest any measures that they have put in place have actually made significant or substantial differences to the day-to-day operation of businesses in Canberra, leading them to make the decision to invest further or create new jobs. Business is heading in droves across the border, simply because it is not just easier to do business over there but it is also more cost effective. The current policies relating to red tape adopted by ACT Labor are ad hoc at best and a whole-of-government approach has not been taken, despite the rhetoric to the contrary.
Successive Labor governments have instead adopted a piecemeal approach to issues facing business and have used the term “red tape reduction” as a panacea for all. There is also a distinct lack of recognition of the contribution businesses play in the ACT and the financial and regulatory burden that the current policies bear on them, given that business is the backbone to our economy. The ACT has a gold-plated regulatory system and without any acknowledgement of the cost to business, new regulations continue to be imposed.
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