Page 1014 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 March 2019

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I note that the government has emulated my colleague’s proposed changes to land tax to provide an exemption for community housing. This could have been put in place months ago, had the government simply supported Mr Parton’s bill. Of course, they were stubborn and said no, yet here we are months later and they are trying to now do pretty much the same thing. Whilst it is a positive change compared to the current policy, I wonder why the government did not support it when it was first introduced into the Assembly last year. The Treasurer was critical of both the motion and the bill, and it probably was not until after polling came back that the government decided they might implement the policy.

To the Treasurer’s credit, he has changed the legislation by watering down its effectiveness through proposed amendments setting a maximum cap on the number of properties eligible and the amount of revenue that may be forgone. It is as shameful as it is unsurprising that the Labor-Greens government continue to prioritise their own revenue scheme, as opposed to actually getting as many people as possible into this scheme.

The Labor-Greens government seem determined to increase the cost of living through ever-increasing rates, fees, taxes and charges. The Canberra Liberals agree everyone should pay their fair share, but those who do not should not get harshly penalised if they have simply made an honest mistake. We believe many Canberrans will be worse off as a result of all these changes. We do not want to give the government more discretion when it comes to rates, taxes, fees and charges. They cannot be trusted.

We do not want to see a situation where the government has an excuse to charge even more for penalties and other charges. We also do not want to see a situation where, because lots of people might apply for the land tax exemption, they should stop it. On the off chance that it is a success, they want to do everything they can to make sure it is not. Why the government is moving an amendment to limit the effectiveness of this is absolutely beyond me, but that how this government rolls. They have no interest in the plight and welfare of Canberrans. It is simply about money in the bank for them to spend on their pet projects.

As I said at the very beginning, there are some technical aspects of this bill that we can support, but there are many substantial policy decisions that we cannot. That is why we will be moving in the detail stage to have the bill split and to vote on clauses separately.

MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (5.12): The Greens will be supporting this bill. As Mr Coe says, the bill makes a large number of changes to tax legislation, but I am going to focus my remarks on two parts of it: the new debt recovery provisions in the Taxation Administration Act and the land tax exemption for affordable housing. I will start with the new debt recovery options under the Taxation Administration Act before finishing on the considerably happier topic of the land tax exemption.

Most people pay their tax, which is good. However, there are always going to be some people who do not. Broadly, these people will be in three categories: those who are doing something dodgy, those who have made a mistake because they are either confused or got some bad advice or those who are suffering from financial hardship.


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