Ms LAWRIE - 2012-12-04
In your document Our Commitment to Northern Territory Families, under No 3, Affordable Housing, you said:
Yet, in your mini-budget today, you slash the concession on stamp duty for first homebuyers and increase land title searches and development application charges, impacting on the price of housing. We know you tore this up on the cost of living. Now, you are tearing it up on affordable housing.
ANSWER
Pretty good tearing. Madam Speaker, it is a bit embarrassing because it is as if this attack is being conducted in the presences of adults who know, difficult though it is, these matters have to be faced up to. You can say all you like with these confected responses that give some false assurance, but no intention was ever displayed by the former Treasurer to deal with the real problem ...
Ms Lawrie: What are you doing?
Mr MILLS: I will tell you. The hard decisions we are making are demonstration of our commitment to those families because if we cannot sort this out, it is going to be a worse position for Territory families. Make no make mistake about it! You obviously do not understand it or you do not want to. You think this is all politics and point scoring. This is serious business. We have to sort this out; we have to strengthen the Territory’s financial position to give some security to families. That is what this is about. This is played out in the long term. We have a long-term view of a very real problem, and of the enormous potential of the Northern Territory.
The former Treasurer took this terribly debilitating position, as a leader managing the Territory finances, and said, ‘Everybody, it is going to be just fine. Santa is going to come with some more GST and he will help us out of this, then it will be really good. But we do not have to make any hard decisions; no one will suffer a bit because we are just going to pass the responsibilities to someone else to help us.’
We are supposed to be aspiring to statehood, for goodness sake! That is not the attitude of someone who is a serious member of the Commonwealth, not to take their responsibilities seriously. We do, in full view of Territory families. It is difficult, but it is necessary and we do it because it is needed to secure the future of Territory families.
- ... work to eliminate or reduce, where possible, every government charge on housing both for those purchasing and/or renting’.
Yet, in your mini-budget today, you slash the concession on stamp duty for first homebuyers and increase land title searches and development application charges, impacting on the price of housing. We know you tore this up on the cost of living. Now, you are tearing it up on affordable housing.
ANSWER
Pretty good tearing. Madam Speaker, it is a bit embarrassing because it is as if this attack is being conducted in the presences of adults who know, difficult though it is, these matters have to be faced up to. You can say all you like with these confected responses that give some false assurance, but no intention was ever displayed by the former Treasurer to deal with the real problem ...
Ms Lawrie: What are you doing?
Mr MILLS: I will tell you. The hard decisions we are making are demonstration of our commitment to those families because if we cannot sort this out, it is going to be a worse position for Territory families. Make no make mistake about it! You obviously do not understand it or you do not want to. You think this is all politics and point scoring. This is serious business. We have to sort this out; we have to strengthen the Territory’s financial position to give some security to families. That is what this is about. This is played out in the long term. We have a long-term view of a very real problem, and of the enormous potential of the Northern Territory.
The former Treasurer took this terribly debilitating position, as a leader managing the Territory finances, and said, ‘Everybody, it is going to be just fine. Santa is going to come with some more GST and he will help us out of this, then it will be really good. But we do not have to make any hard decisions; no one will suffer a bit because we are just going to pass the responsibilities to someone else to help us.’
We are supposed to be aspiring to statehood, for goodness sake! That is not the attitude of someone who is a serious member of the Commonwealth, not to take their responsibilities seriously. We do, in full view of Territory families. It is difficult, but it is necessary and we do it because it is needed to secure the future of Territory families.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016