Page 295 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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resurfacing. Tuggeranong residents are sick of the increases in the cost of living at the same time as they are seeing a reduction in basic local services.
Under the Canberra Liberals, Canberrans will have reduced costs of living for families by our freezing rates and better managing the budget, because the Canberra Liberals want to make Canberra the best place to live, work and raise a family.
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (4.37): Far too many Canberrans are acutely aware of the exorbitant cost of living that we face across our city at the hands of this government. Rates, taxes, fines, fees and charges all continue to rise at extraordinary levels to feed Mr Barr’s addiction to revenue. Rates revenue is up by 134 per cent since his reforms began, which means that it has tripled since 2012. And we are no closer to seeing the abolition of stamp duty. Last year alone, we saw parking fees increase by 2.5 per cent. Parking fine revenue was up by 26 per cent. Ms Le Couteur might like to note that public transport fares also increased by 2.5 per cent. Working with vulnerable people cards were up by 60 per cent. Rego increased by $14. Water bills increased by $22. That is just a snapshot of the many increases in rates, fees and charges across our city.
Besides the direct impact of these charges, the policies of Mr Barr and his government continue to have a huge impact on the cost of living across our city. Median rent is $550 per week. Suburbs like Dickson have seen year on year increases of 17 per cent. The housing affordability crisis continues, with rising house prices and rent making Canberra one of the most expensive cities to live. The government just keeps making it worse.
Petrol prices have risen by 13 per cent in seven years. Average electricity bills in Canberra are $423 higher than New South Wales and $621 higher than Victoria. Child care is more expensive in Canberra: $100 more a week than the national median. In addition to this, milk, beer, eggs and many other basic items are much more expensive than in other parts of the country.
Mr Barr is addicted to revenue, and hardworking Canberrans are suffering as a result. We have 35,000 low income Canberrans in our city, and over 26,000 are at or below the poverty line. Mr Barr’s utopia has become an expensive, and for many Canberrans an increasingly unaffordable, place to live. Too many Canberrans are being driven out of our city. This heartless Chief Minister just does not care.
The Canberra Liberals do care. Good government should be making the lives of Canberrans easier. We should be supporting those doing it tough whilst reducing the burden of government wherever possible. The Canberra Liberals are the only party in this place who are genuinely concerned about reducing the cost of living in our city, as we can see by the lack of members on the other side at the moment.
We have committed to freezing rates in order to bring down the cost of living for many Canberra households. Mr Barr has said that this freeze is incompatible with territory needs. However, it is Mr Barr and the callous Labor-Greens government that are incompatible with making Canberra an affordable place to live.
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