Page 3678 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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(f) the impact of Government policies on pensioners is further compounded by lower rates, energy and water concessions;
(g) a Government spokeswoman has admitted to The Canberra Times that no modelling has been done about the impact of residential rate rises on homeowners with a fixed income;
(h) the human face of this impact were two retirees in their eighties living on a modest income in a small unit who sat in the public gallery in late August wanting to know how they will pay a 53 per cent rates increase this year; and
(i) this relentless imposition on Canberrans by the Labor-Greens Government will continue with budgeted revenue from residential general rates increasing by a further 11 per cent in 2018-19, and 9 per cent in 2019-20, and 9 per cent again in 2020-21; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) stop its unfair and destructive rates reform; and
(b) table in the Assembly no later than 21 September the Treasury analysis of the financial and social impacts of the rates reform package.
Today the Canberra Liberals are bringing forward this motion on rates for some simple but very important and wide-reaching reasons. Canberrans are suffering because of this government’s insatiable appetite to tax Canberrans. Of course, those who are affected come from all corners of the city. In fact, every single Canberran is impacted by this government’s policy: regardless of whether you are a home owner or a renter, this government is slugging you. It could be younger Canberrans attempting to enter the property market for the first time or those leaving home for the first time who are now renting. It could be families who, on a weekly basis, have to meet a whole range of expenses to keep life moving. It could be elderly people who, after a lifetime of work, have to keep paying the government more and more and more.
The fact is that thousands of Canberrans who fit into the profile that I have just mentioned, and more, have to lead tougher lives because of Andrew Barr’s decisions with regard to rates. He is squeezing more and more. If the tax hit is not direct, it is indirect, with all these charges being passed on to renters. Increases in rates and land tax on rental properties, like any increases in costs, must end up in either lower net income for a landlord or higher rents for tenants; most likely a combination.
What we are seeing is a squeeze on rentals. Not only is there an immediate impact but, as a result of lower yield for investment properties, there will be less incentive or less reason to invest in Canberra, which means that there will be comparatively fewer rental properties available, which then means that supply relatively decreases and the price goes up.
Right across our city, parents, small business people and pensioners have been opening their annual rates notices again this year only to realise that they need to find hundreds of dollars more each quarter that they do not have.
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