Mr WOOD - 2005-05-04
At the Alice Springs sittings, it was shown that the government had received $166m in GST, which was $74.3m better than 2002-03 and $27.4m better than budgeted. If you really wanted to help families, why did you not use that money to reduce or cut stamp duty from things like house insurance, which already has a GST? Surely families do not need to be double taxed.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the way stamp duties were imposed at the time the Intergovernmental Agreement was struck in accord with state and territory governments of the day and the Commonwealth government, was the agreement to go forward. That is the way it had been treated under the old sales tax, sales duties and those sorts of taxation issues. There has been no change. That is the way the Intergovernmental Agreement is struck. Everyone is in that accord and agreement, and remains so at this stage, albeit there might be a question with Western Australia if they do not talk turkey with the federal Treasurer. However, everyone else is in that agreement.
This idea of not doing anything for families disturbs me. There is $3.7m in this budget to subsidise child care. That is directly taking down the cost of child care. There is over $40m going to the Power and Water Corporation to subsidise and keep down the level of power costs. If you put sewerage and water in there as well, that Community Service Obligation rises to above $50m. This is not a government that does not do anything for families because there are direct subsidies keeping the cost of living down. Petrol prices are in there at 1.01 per litre. That costs around $3.6m. The Jobs Plan is about families and parents worried about their young fellas and daughters and what they are going to do: 10 000 Territorians to be trained over the next four years. That is a huge boost for families. It is a wonderful thing for mum and dad to say: ‘This government is having a go at creating a spot in the work force for my young Johnny and my young Mary’. That is good news, I would have thought, for families. It is something this government is doing for families and their kids.
There is up to $500 for traditional trades apprentices to go towards their tool box, safety boots and clothes; $300 for the young trainee, perhaps straight out of school, who has not had money before and has to have a reasonable outfit to go to work in the retail shop or the office, or wherever they are off to. That is straight out assistance to help these young kids. The pensioner concession scheme keeps the costs of car registration, power and water down. The total cost of support for pensioners is $8.13m. That is support for families.
There are 100 more teaches, 100 more nurses, 120 more police to create safer communities in the Northern Territory. That is support for families. Of course, for hospitals there is $81.2m in Alice Springs, $8.1m in Tennant Creek, $20.3m for Katherine, $15.7m for Nhulunbuy, $156.4m for Royal Darwin, all money to help those hospitals tick over efficiently and effectively when families get sick.
We introduced maternity leave; we pay for it each year in the budget. That is money for families. We allow people to take family leave as sick leave and we pay for that in the budget. That is all support for families; hard dollars that this government spends. There is around $420m on our schools. We run the Darwin Bus Service that transports families around Darwin for $6.7m, and an increase of $140 000 to bring on those services to the seniors villages. I did not add up those figures as I went through, but it is an enormous spend, all in support of our families in the Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the way stamp duties were imposed at the time the Intergovernmental Agreement was struck in accord with state and territory governments of the day and the Commonwealth government, was the agreement to go forward. That is the way it had been treated under the old sales tax, sales duties and those sorts of taxation issues. There has been no change. That is the way the Intergovernmental Agreement is struck. Everyone is in that accord and agreement, and remains so at this stage, albeit there might be a question with Western Australia if they do not talk turkey with the federal Treasurer. However, everyone else is in that agreement.
This idea of not doing anything for families disturbs me. There is $3.7m in this budget to subsidise child care. That is directly taking down the cost of child care. There is over $40m going to the Power and Water Corporation to subsidise and keep down the level of power costs. If you put sewerage and water in there as well, that Community Service Obligation rises to above $50m. This is not a government that does not do anything for families because there are direct subsidies keeping the cost of living down. Petrol prices are in there at 1.01 per litre. That costs around $3.6m. The Jobs Plan is about families and parents worried about their young fellas and daughters and what they are going to do: 10 000 Territorians to be trained over the next four years. That is a huge boost for families. It is a wonderful thing for mum and dad to say: ‘This government is having a go at creating a spot in the work force for my young Johnny and my young Mary’. That is good news, I would have thought, for families. It is something this government is doing for families and their kids.
There is up to $500 for traditional trades apprentices to go towards their tool box, safety boots and clothes; $300 for the young trainee, perhaps straight out of school, who has not had money before and has to have a reasonable outfit to go to work in the retail shop or the office, or wherever they are off to. That is straight out assistance to help these young kids. The pensioner concession scheme keeps the costs of car registration, power and water down. The total cost of support for pensioners is $8.13m. That is support for families.
There are 100 more teaches, 100 more nurses, 120 more police to create safer communities in the Northern Territory. That is support for families. Of course, for hospitals there is $81.2m in Alice Springs, $8.1m in Tennant Creek, $20.3m for Katherine, $15.7m for Nhulunbuy, $156.4m for Royal Darwin, all money to help those hospitals tick over efficiently and effectively when families get sick.
We introduced maternity leave; we pay for it each year in the budget. That is money for families. We allow people to take family leave as sick leave and we pay for that in the budget. That is all support for families; hard dollars that this government spends. There is around $420m on our schools. We run the Darwin Bus Service that transports families around Darwin for $6.7m, and an increase of $140 000 to bring on those services to the seniors villages. I did not add up those figures as I went through, but it is an enormous spend, all in support of our families in the Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016