Mr WOOD - 2001-11-27
Treasurer, in the budget you have announced a levy of $90 per vehicle under your Temporary Budget Improvement Levy and there is an allowance for a levy of $45 for pensioners. What does the government expect to raise from that charge to pensioners? Would the government consider exempting pensioners from this type of levy on their first car, considering the levy is supposed to raise $24m over three years? Does this levy also apply to contractors with, say, a one tonne ute used predominately for work?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Nelson for his question. The Temporary Budget Improvement Levy is an important revenue-raising measure for this government. It is welcomed by business in that it has a sunset clause. This is a budget measure that is directly related to the unsustainable position left by the previous administration. It will raise dollars to tackle that, and in three years time, according to the legislation, it will go away. In three years time, we will have raised money to be able to put the budget back into surplus and deliver important services for Territorians. The levy is set at $90 per annum and it is intended for the three years to raise $24m.
The measure will apply across the community, and I fully understand that it will cause some financial pain. In the best of worlds, we would not have to deal with the dishonesty that we were left with by the previous administration. This government knows it will not be greatly popular. What revenue measure like this is? But it is an important revenue measure and we simply cannot follow the budgetary guidelines set out by the Leader of the Opposition, which on one hand says spend, spend, spend but do not raise any charges. I do not know how you work out budgets. This is the member for Katherine’s school of managing the budget, you passed it onto your mate.
I think an important fact of this budget levy is that it is applied to all of us in here and it is applied to all of those who work for government. We have reduced the impact, all government workers will pay this. If they drive private-plated vehicles, they will pay the levy as well. With pensioners, we have reduced it to 50%. It is a measure that we are saying is right across the board, and it will only be applied for as long as we need to have it applied. So, I recognise the pain, but the pain is directly attributable to the fact that the previous administration left the Territory with an unsustainable budget situation. Territorians will welcome the fact that we are turning that position around.
ANSWER
I thank the member for Nelson for his question. The Temporary Budget Improvement Levy is an important revenue-raising measure for this government. It is welcomed by business in that it has a sunset clause. This is a budget measure that is directly related to the unsustainable position left by the previous administration. It will raise dollars to tackle that, and in three years time, according to the legislation, it will go away. In three years time, we will have raised money to be able to put the budget back into surplus and deliver important services for Territorians. The levy is set at $90 per annum and it is intended for the three years to raise $24m.
The measure will apply across the community, and I fully understand that it will cause some financial pain. In the best of worlds, we would not have to deal with the dishonesty that we were left with by the previous administration. This government knows it will not be greatly popular. What revenue measure like this is? But it is an important revenue measure and we simply cannot follow the budgetary guidelines set out by the Leader of the Opposition, which on one hand says spend, spend, spend but do not raise any charges. I do not know how you work out budgets. This is the member for Katherine’s school of managing the budget, you passed it onto your mate.
I think an important fact of this budget levy is that it is applied to all of us in here and it is applied to all of those who work for government. We have reduced the impact, all government workers will pay this. If they drive private-plated vehicles, they will pay the levy as well. With pensioners, we have reduced it to 50%. It is a measure that we are saying is right across the board, and it will only be applied for as long as we need to have it applied. So, I recognise the pain, but the pain is directly attributable to the fact that the previous administration left the Territory with an unsustainable budget situation. Territorians will welcome the fact that we are turning that position around.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016