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- 20 June 2000
Residential Park Rents Goods And Services Tax
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Page: 7143
Urgent Motion
[Debate resumed.]
Mr CRITTENDEN (Wyong—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.04 p.m.]: No amount of obfuscation and hyperbole can change the fact that, on 11 April 2000, the Minister for Fair Trading—
Mr Armstrong: Point of order: The honourable member for Wyong has not indicated which motion he is speaking to. The motion was altered dramatically from that which was presented to the House. Mr Speaker, I ask that you request the honourable member to articulate fully the wording of the motion that is to be debated in the Chamber this afternoon.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member for Wyong has moved the motion in its original form. I directed that the motion be amended by the deletion of paragraph (2) and the motion in its amended form is now before the House.
Mr Armstrong: Point of order: May we have a copy of the amended motion?
Mr SPEAKER: You may.
Mr CRITTENDEN: No amount of obfuscation, hyperbole or malice on the part of the Opposition can change the fact that, at 3.35 p.m. on 11 April 2000, the Minister for Fair Trading moved the following urgent motion:
That this House calls on the Federal Government to remove the goods and services tax on rents paid by residential park residents.
Opposition members could not bring themselves to support that simple motion.
Mr Fraser: Point of order: In response to a point of order from me, you ruled that the second paragraph of the motion as originally put was not factual, and therefore had to be deleted. The honourable member for Wyong now insists on trying to make the House believe that that part of the motion, which was removed, is factual. It is not. I ask you to bring the honourable member back to the motion before the House and request that he stop misleading the House about the paragraph of the motion that was deleted by your order earlier today.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member for Coffs Harbour will have the opportunity at the appropriate time to rebut any allegations made by the honourable member for Wyong. There is no point of order.
Mr CRITTENDEN: That was the simple, clear motion that was before the House in April, but Opposition members simply could not bring themselves to come to the party and present a united front to the Federal Government on this issue. As I said in my contribution to the debate on 11 April, the Opposition's record in this area is one of gross hypocrisy. I am pleased that the honourable member for Gosford is in the Chamber today and I hope that he will have the courage at least to vote on this occasion. This has been a clear anomaly since the beginning of February. The first day of July is only a few days away and people who live in residential parks in this State deserve a fair go. They deserve to be treated like all other tenants in New South Wales; they do not deserve to pay a goods and services tax on their rent. I had hoped that, by December 1998, the New South Wales Opposition had learned from its previous mistakes.
I refer honourable members to the dreadful Residential Tenancies (Movable Dwellings) Amendment Bill that was introduced by the then honourable member for Wagga Wagga, Mr Schipp. It was a clayton's bill: it did nothing to improve the rights of residential park residents. Unfortunately, the Coalition proceeded with that nonsense and pretended that it was taking action when in fact it was not. At that time, Coalition members decided to vote against my amendment that would have offered security of tenure to people living in residential parks. They also voted against my proposition that premiums and commissions should not be paid on the sale of mobile homes in residential parks. It is pretty sad that we have reached the stage today—
Mr STONER (Oxley) [4.10 p.m.]: I move:
That the honourable member for Wyong be not further heard.
The House divided.
Ayes, 30
Mr Brogden
Mr Collins
Mr Debnam
Mr George
Mr Glachan
Mr Hartcher
Mr Hazzard
Ms Hodgkinson
Mr Humpherson
Dr Kernohan
Mr Kerr | Mr Maguire
Mr Merton
Mr Oakeshott
Mr O'Doherty
Mr O'Farrell
Mr D. L. Page
Mr Piccoli
Mr Richardson
Mr Rozzoli
Ms Seaton
Mrs Skinner | Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Souris
Mr Stoner
Mr Tink
Mr R. W. Turner
Mr Webb
Tellers,
Mr Fraser
Mr R. H. L. Smith |
Noes, 54
Ms Allan
Mr Amery
Ms Andrews
Mr Aquilina
Mr Ashton
Mr Barr
Mr Bartlett
Ms Beamer
Mr Black
Mr Brown
Miss Burton
Mr Campbell
Mr Collier
Mr Crittenden
Mr Debus
Mr Face
Mr Gaudry
Mr Greene
Mrs Grusovin | Ms Harrison
Mr Hickey
Mr Hunter
Mr Iemma
Mrs Lo Po'
Mr Lynch
Mr Markham
Mr Martin
Mr McBride
Mr McGrane
Mr McManus
Ms Meagher
Ms Megarrity
Mr Mills
Ms Moore
Mr Nagle
Mr Newell
Ms Nori
Mr Orkopoulos | Mr E. T. Page
Mr Price
Dr Refshauge
Ms Saliba
Mr Scully
Mr W. D. Smith
Mr Stewart
Mr Torbay
Mr Tripodi
Mr Watkins
Mr Whelan
Mr Windsor
Mr Woods
Mr Yeadon
Tellers,
Mr Anderson
Mr Thompson |
Pairs
| Mrs Chikarovski | Mr Gibson |
| Mr J. H. Turner | Mr Moss |
Question resolved in the negative.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The speaking time of the honourable member for Wyong has expired.
Mr HUMPHERSON (Davidson) [4.19 p.m.]: Hypocrisy, lies and incompetence have characterised this debate. For almost an hour we have listened to the most blatant display of hypocrisy on the part of the Government. The motion is characterised by lies and distortion and, yet again, Government members have displayed incompetence. It is worth reflecting on the incompetence of the honourable member for Wyong in moving a motion which not only lacks fact but was unsustainable and had to be overruled and amended by Mr Speaker. He follows in the shoes of the honourable member for Lakemba, the Minister for Public Works and Services, who only weeks ago gave notice of a motion that was so badly worded it was thrown out of the House within minutes of notice being given. Government members who profess to be Ministers or parliamentary secretaries do not have the ability or competence to put a motion before this House.
This is the second time this House has debated this issue in two months. This is the second time that the honourable member for Wyong has sought cheap publicity by grandstanding on issues relating to permanent park residents. We debated this issue in early April, as the honourable member has acknowledged, and nothing has changed since then. We will now spend the next two hours—in total the debate will take the best part of three hours—debating this issue when we should be debating other issues of equal or greater significance to the people of this State.
Mr Orkopoulos: Point of order: I ask that the honourable member for Davidson be brought back to the subject of the motion and not refer to other issues that could have been debated.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! No point of order is involved.
Mr HUMPHERSON: The hypocrisy of the Australian Labor Party is demonstrated by its support for the goods and services tax [GST]. The Labor Party has supported the GST year in, year out since Paul Keating was Federal Treasurer. Since he raised the issue in the previous decade, it has been on the public agenda and it is now in place. Paul Keating was an advocate of the GST, and with its introduction and implementation over the past 12 months it has now become evident that the Premier also advocates and supports it. He was the first Premier to agree that a GST should be introduced in this country. It was also agreed to and supported by the Treasurer, the Hon. M. R. Egan.
During the past six to 12 months the Premier and the Minister for Regional Development have gone around the State telling people in local government and the wider business community about how great the GST is. They know the GST will improve the economy of this State and will create many benefits. They know, as the Prime Minister has said on numerous occasions, that no-one will be worse off. The supposed leaders of the Government supported a GST and now they pretend to permanent park residents that they oppose the GST. Wrong! They supported it. They knew about the details and intricacies of this issue. They are now trying to pretend that something has changed. I move the following amendment:
That the motion be amended by leaving out all words after the word "That" with a view to inserting instead the following:
"this House condemns the Government for its hypocrisy in supporting the GST and then purporting to oppose it to residential park residents, and further, condemns the Government’s failure to provide adequate resources for the homeless and accommodation for 100,000 people on the housing waiting list."
The amendment refers to other priorities that should be debated: homeless people and those who are on the housing waiting list. As to the permanent park residents, I make it clear that the Liberal-National Party in this State is proud of its record. When the Coalition was in government under Premier Greiner and Premier Fahey it supported permanent park residents. The coalition acknowledges that when people retire they often choose to live in permanent accommodation in residential parks on the coast. They choose that lifestyle, they develop relationships and friendships, they build communities of support amongst the people who live around them, and they make permanent vans and the surrounding park their homes. They clearly regard those vans as long-term accommodation. They have well and truly become part of the community up and down the coast of New South Wales and inland. The Coalition not only supports them; we acknowledge that they are an important part of the wider community.
I remind the House that the Coalition supported park residents in 1994 when we introduced legislation which gave them increased security of tenure. Prior to that legislation, many residents were vulnerable. If residential park owners had little tolerance of or consideration for residents' circumstances, on many occasions they threatened them by trying to force them out of their homes. We introduced legislation which provided many benefits. The coalition removed the charging of overnight fees for visitors and the ability of park owners to charge premiums on the sale of on-site homes. We provided protection under the Residential Tenancies Act and also provided leases of up to 20 years. We provided for minimum health, safety and amenities standards for parks in this State.
All of those initiatives were not taken by the Government, as it would now have the park residents believe. They were introduced by the Liberal and National parties in this State. We acknowledged a longstanding problem and the concerns of park residents about their security and future. It took a Liberal-National party Government to take the initiative and provide that security of tenure. Members of the Labor Party have not acknowledged that initiative, and they have not actively sought to criticise it. They have failed to acknowledge that for the 12 years up to 1988 when they were in government they failed to move on these issues. The Coalition introduced other changes, including electricity rebates and the establishing of a tenancy advice and advocacy program. Our record in government is a good one.
Mr Crittenden: Point of order: I have been very tolerant with the honourable member for Davidson. There is only one National party member in this Chamber, and the honourable member for Davidson has not said anything relating to the GST on caravan park residents for the past 2½ minutes.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.
Mr HUMPHERSON: The debate on the other side of the House is characterised by hypocrisy. The Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, has refused to acknowledge that he will not change the GST. [Time expired.]
Mr WATKINS (Ryde—Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Sport and Recreation) [4.29 p.m.]: It is tradition for Labor Party members of this House to defend those without a voice and to defend those who suffer unfair treatment. That is why members of the Labor Party in this Chamber are proud to step forward once again today to protect and speak up for residential park residents, who will yet again cop it in the neck from the Federal Government when the GST is introduced. The hypocrisy of the National Party on this matter is astounding. Two months ago I moved a motion in this House calling on the Howard Government to remove the GST from residential park residents. During that debate honourable members opposite tried to defend the indefensible: that the GST on caravan park residents was a good thing.
The reason for their rank hypocrisy is now clear: the issue is about saving their skins and the skins of their Federal colleagues. Residential park residents will not be fooled by their about-face. They know that honourable members opposite do not care about them and that the reason for their alleged change of heart is about one thing and one thing only: trying to stem the tide of discontent and disenchantment with this pernicious tax, the GST. In the true tradition of the modern National Party, honourable members opposite have failed to convince John Howard that this terrible injustice can be fixed. National Party members are cowering in their offices at this very moment because they do not have the courage to take part in this debate. But they have tried to stop honourable members from this side standing up in favour of people living in residential parks. John Anderson's backflip this morning is an indication of the impact the National Party has on its Coalition partner, and that is none.
Mr Humpherson: Point of order: The Minister and his Government supported the GST, yet he is continuing to try to pretend that it did not, that it has not and that it would overturn it. It is not appropriate that you allow him to continue in that vein.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.
Mr WATKINS: The New South Wales Labor Party, through Country Labor and its Central Coast members in particular, have been trying for months to have this pernicious tax removed from caravan park dwellers. I first made statements about this injustice in January, and the honourable member for Wyong has been tireless in his campaign to get justice for this group. A tenant is a tenant. How can the Commonwealth tax one differently from the other just because one chooses to live in a residential park? It seems, though, that John Howard is not listening. It is clear he is not listening when one considers his behaviour in the past couple of days. He has well and truly abandoned the battlers for his second term.
John Howard's argument about why the tax must stay is a contradictory confidence trick. On one hand he said that residential park residents would be worse off if they are treated like other tenants. He made that statement on AM yesterday. He said they would pay more if they are subject to the same rules as those renting million dollar properties on Sydney Harbour. But his analysis does not stack up. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently published a document called "Everyday Shopping Guide with the GST", which lists the supposed impact of the GST on a range of everyday matters.
According to that document private rents are expected to increase by 1 per cent or 2 per cent under GST because things like rates will increase, which will impact on rents. That, of course, is in contrast to the 5 per cent—or is it 5.5 per cent—GST that will be forced onto residential park residents. On the Federal Government's own analysis that means that private rents will increase by 2 per cent while caravan park rents will increase by 5.5 per cent. But after this morning even that seems unclear. This morning AAP reported John Anderson in a convoluted quote as saying:
Some may not be aware that there is no real difference between applying the 5.5 per cent concessional GST rate and not applying it, in which case all the cost increases are passed on in input tax and tenants pay an increase that is comparable.
That is just nonsense. It does not make sense. It does not add up. The battlers in the caravan parks know that they will be hit by an unfair pernicious 5.5 per cent tax on their rents. That is unfair. It applies to no other tenants in Australia. It should be removed. [Time expired.]
Mr HAZZARD (Wakehurst) [4.34 p.m.]: The Government has moved a couple of hopeless motions today. It is behaving as if it is the Federal Opposition, but running around the same track again. It is trying to make out to residential park tenants that its actions to date have been without fault. The New South Wales Coalition will be concerned if any permanent residents of any permanent park suffer a negative impact as a result of the GST. A number of claims have been made in this debate, not the least of which is that the whole equation is not being put before the House. Obviously, certain tax advantages will flow to any person in New South Wales as result of sales tax reductions: taxes that were 26 per cent will become 10 per cent and in other instances tax scales will be lowered. If we are to make an informed evaluation of the impact of the GST on permanent park residents we must be aware of all of those factors.
The honourable member for Wyong has moved a half-baked motion which is born more of political stunt-making than any desire to protect permanent residents in residential parks. He likes to herald the fact in the local papers and the national media that he is a member of the troglodytes. In this case that is certainly true: he is a troglodyte. He is right out of touch with reality. Worse still, he is supported by the honourable member for Murray-Darling. He is a mendacious troglodyte. Lined up along the front bench are a series of Government members who are prepared to be mendacious in the way they debate this important concern to people who reside in residential parks.
The GST was a Labor initiative. Paul Keating and Bob Carr started in the Right faction of Young Labor together; they were Right faction mates from the time they were in Young Labor. Who dreamed up the idea of GST? It was Paul Keating. He wanted it. The GST has been on the agenda since 1985 when the Hawke-Keating tax summit listed the GST for debate because Mr Keating wanted it on the agenda. It was rejected then by the unions, but Labor wanted a GST. Who was there on 24 June 1999 when the GST documents were signed? I see John Howard's signature and whose signature is right below it? It is the signature of no-one else but the Premier of New South Wales, Mr Bob Carr. No other Premier from anywhere in Australia signed the document. How much clearer could it be to the troglodytes of the Labor Party and the people who wish to lie and misconstrue the truth?
The document makes it absolutely clear that Bob Carr, Labor's Premier, supported the GST right down the line. I do not want the people in residential parks to suffer. I do not want them to be disadvantaged. I do not believe they will be disadvantaged, contrary to what the Labor Party claims. But if they are disadvantaged members opposite have a precedent for ensuring that some sort of compensation is forthcoming. They gave $50 to the parents of all schoolchildren. I call on the honourable member for Wyong, who has a high status in the Labor Party, to undertake on behalf of the Treasurer and the Premier that the Government will refund that component of the GST that results in residential park tenants being out of pocket.
I challenge members opposite to do so. If they do not, anybody reading that document will know that Government members are a bunch of gutless wimps and liars because this is all a political stunt. The 100,000 people on the housing waiting list are not being helped by the Government and the 3,222 homeless callers to the homeless help line in February are not being helped by the Government. Government members should get off their backsides and start helping those who really need help instead of making these stupid political stunts in the Parliament! [Time expired.]
Mr MARKHAM (Wollongong—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.39 p.m.]: I support the motion moved by the honourable member for Wyong and I should like to add my comments about the effect of this insidious tax on those who can least afford to pay it. Permanent residents in manufactured home villages and caravan parks are being put into the same category as tourists for the application of the goods and services tax [GST]. In principle there is little difference between their lifestyle renting land in a manufactured home village or caravan park and renting a townhouse or home unit. A permanent park resident can buy a home-caravan and then rent the site on which it is placed. Quite often the management of the park issues a long-term lease agreement, for example, for three years and continuous periods.
Permanent park residents are people of all ages, employed and unemployed, but mainly seniors, pensioners, superannuants, self-funded retirees and others on fixed incomes. In New South Wales approximately 100,000 people reside permanently in residential parks, and there are more than 170 villages and caravan parks in the South Coast area alone. About 2,500 permanent residential park residents in the Illawarra, South Coast and far South Coast areas will pay up to $500,000 a year in GST, while 2,532 people renting exclusive Sydney properties for $1,000 a week will get off scot-free. Some of the poorest families in New South Wales who live permanently in residential parks will pay an extra $234 a year in rent while property renters will be exempt.
This July more than 2,500 residential park residents throughout the Illawarra, South Coast and far South Coast will face a 5 per cent GST on their rent. More than 40 per cent of residential park residents are over 60 years of age, 73 per cent are not in paid employment and 53 per cent earn under $300 a week. There are 2,500 permanent park residents in the Illawarra, South Coast and far South Coast areas: 727 in Wollongong, 837 in the Shoalhaven, 149 in Shellharbour, 37 in Kiama, 463 in the Eurobodalla shire, 277 in the Bega valley shire and 11 in the Cooma-Monaro region.
Statewide, up to 50,000 New South Wales families live permanently in residential parks and face a 5 per cent GST increase in their weekly rents, while people renting flats, apartments and houses will not be charged the GST. The Federal Government claims the GST is fair and will hit everyone equally. Once again its claims have been proved false. While GST is not levied on rents for houses, flats or apartments, the Federal Government has classified residential parks as commercial residential premises and therefore park residents face a direct 5 per cent GST hike. Residential park residents are just like any other person renting a home and should not have to pay the GST.
Once again the battlers in the community will be hit hardest. This plan is unfair and illogical. I cannot understand why residential parks have been singled out. At a meeting I attended on Monday 14 February at the Windang Bowling Club, which was organised by Noel Cox, President of the South Coast Park Residents Association, the following residential parks in the Wollongong electorate were put forward as those that will be affected by the GST: Figtree Gardens Caravan Park, Oaklands Village Caravan Park, Oasis Resort Holiday Park, Lake Illawarra Village Caravan Park, Windang Beach Caravan Park, Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort and Lakeline Estate Kanahooka.
Yesterday I again met with Noel Cox in my office. Again he raised the concerns of the people he represents—pensioners, people on fixed incomes, and retirees—who are being subjected to unfair attacks by a Government that could not care less about working-class people. The majority of those who live in residential parks are retirees from a working-class background. If Howard thinks he can get away with this because of that fact, I fear he has sadly forgotten his own constituency, especially that of the National Party. It is quite obvious that many National Party members, both in this Parliament and in the Federal Parliament, are concerned about the effect of the GST on residential park residents. The motion moved by the honourable member for Wyong needs to be supported wholeheartedly. I give him my undertaking to continue the initiatives he has proposed because he is looking after ordinary Australians while the Federal Government has abandoned them. [Time expired.]
Mr R. H. L. SMITH (Bega) [4.44 p.m.]: This is a hypocritical motion by the Government. Obviously it has been moved for political reasons. I have with me the document that the House has been shown a number of times. The Premier was the first to sign the GST document. That document lists John Howard and then Bob Carr. Premier Carr raced to Canberra because he knew there was a heap of money in it for him. It is in his hands. If the Coalition feels that permanent caravan park residents will be disadvantaged, it will do what it can to sort it out. The simple fact is that the New South Wales Government is running this line of attack because it believes there is political advantage to be gained from it. It is not a State matter but a Federal matter, and should be dealt with by the Federal Government, not by the State Government. However, as the State Government will get all that money from the GST, if it wants to fix up what it consider to be anomalies, it will be able to do so. The GST will go to the State Government—and it gives away its money wherever it likes. The Federal Treasurer said:
Bob Carr was the first State Premier to sign the tax reform agreement on 24 June 1999. He was like a roadrunner racing to the table to get his signature on a document lest it be taken away. Other State Premiers followed Bob Carr's lead.
Many of those other State premiers were Labor Premiers, as members opposite well know. Government members do not hold this topic close to their hearts. All they are trying to do is raise a political issue. In 1992 there were 9,000 homeless people. Since Labor was elected to office the number has increased gradually, until in 1999 there were 30,000 people without homes. What is the Government doing about them?
Mr Crittenden: You don't care about residential park residents.
Mr R. H. L. SMITH: The Government does not care about the homeless. Government members also do not like to hear about the dairy industry. The Coalition moved an amendment to the dairy industry deregulation motion. That Coalition amendment would have helped dairy farmers by enabling a few of them to remain on their farms. At that time the New South Wales Government could have done something about the matter, but its response was: "No, we are not going to help them. That is our money. We do not want to deal with State issues. We want to deal with Federal issues. We don't care less about dairy farmers who go off their land. All we are worried about is to make sure we can score a political point here and make sure the Federal National Party gets the full political effect of a great political strike on behalf of the Carr Government."
The simple fact is that the GST will be implemented, but umpteen exemptions from it are being sought. Countries that have implemented GST programs successfully are those that have brought it in across the board. The Labor Party has claimed that it will wind the GST back. It has not said what part of the GST it will wind back. That will be decided later. Labor Party members are bluffing their way through. They hope that by the time of the next Federal election everyone will have forgotten about the wind-back promise. Once the GST is introduced the State Government will get its grubby little hands on the money and absolutely love it. The GST will not be wound back one iota. Labor will gain all the benefits of the GST. That is the thing that will most interest Labor members. [Time expired.]
Mr McBRIDE (The Entrance) [4.49 p.m.]: I congratulate Paul Crittenden, the honourable member for Wyong, for bringing this motion before the House. He has constantly battled on the Central Coast, firstly for the rights of residents to security of placement in caravan parks and mobile home parks, and secondly in relation to the application of the GST. I also congratulate the Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Sport and Recreation, who on 11 April moved the motion referred to in the motion we are now debating. That motion stated:
That this House calls on the Federal Government to remove the goods and services tax on rent paid by residential park residents.
The problem is that the Federal Government has classified residential parks as commercial residential premises. They are clearly not commercial premises—they are people's homes. But unlike the occupiers of rented homes, houses, apartments, townhouses or units, residential park residents are facing a 5.5 per cent GST. On behalf of the 50,000 people living in residential parks across New South Wales I say that a 5.5 per cent GST on their rent is simply unfair. Not only is the system complicated, it is totally unfair. More than 40 per cent of residents are aged more than 60 years, 73 per cent do not do paid work, and 53 per cent have household incomes of less than $300 a week. Department of Fair Trading tenancy figures show that residential park weekly rents range from $60 to $100. How can it be fair that many people will have to pay GST on the rent that they pay in residential parks?
Even some Coalition members have acknowledged the unfairness of the GST and the impact it will have on residential park communities. The Federal Liberal member for Gilmore, Joanna Gash, in the South Coast Register of 1 March described the provisions as a stuff-up. She called the GST on residential part rents "a discriminatory tax on where you are living". The Commonwealth Government's so-called concern for regional New South Wales and the battlers is nothing but hollow rhetoric. The howls of protest have rung loud in every corner of the State, but Canberra is clearly not listening to the message. In the debate on 11 April the shadow Treasurer, the honourable member for Vaucluse, Mr Debnam, led for the Opposition. He said that the motion moved by the Minister was purely scaremongering. He said, "This motion is simply a scare campaign." He then went on to say:
The best explanation of this particular issue is set out in a letter from the Hon. Mark Vaile, which was addressed to the honourable member for Myall Lakes, Mr John Turner. That letter stated:
The facts are that the [Commonwealth] Government's tax reform legislation already provides for long-term residents in caravan parks to be given the same treatment as a tenant in any other permanent rental situation.
That is clearly untrue. Another speaker for the Opposition in that debate was the honourable member for Oxley. He said:
I have met with constituents in my electorate—which has many residential parks—including representatives of the Residential Parks Association. I often visit parks in Urunga and Nambucca. I, too, was concerned about the battlers in my electorate. The GST on residential parks appeared to be unfair. However, it is now clear that permanent park residents will be much better off under the Commonwealth Government's comprehensive tax package.
In other words, he endorsed the GST on residential park rents. He went on to say:
The impact of the GST will be minimal in country areas because costs will come down.
It is interesting to see how honourable members opposite voted on that motion. Members of the Labor Party supported the motion by the Minister. The Independent country members of this House also supported it—the honourable members for Dubbo, the honourable member for Northern Tablelands, and the honourable member for Tamworth. But all members of the National Party opposed the motion—all 13 of them—as well as the country Liberals. That is recorded in Hansard.
Mr R. H. L. Smith: You are misleading the House.
Mr McBRIDE: Country Liberals, including the honourable member for Bega, opposed it. They all supported a GST on rents paid by caravan park residents. [Time expired.]
Mr D. L. PAGE (Ballina) [4.54 p.m.]: I wish to put the record right in relation to the matter raised by the honourable member for The Entrance. Members on this side of the House supported an amendment to the motion. We did not divide on the primary issue. As the member for Ballina I have always supported local caravan park and mobile home park residents. As other members have said, many of these people are low income earners. Many are on fixed incomes. Some are in retirement mode. I acknowledge that the Parliamentary Secretary at the table has had a longstanding interest in caravan park dwellers. I think that in fairness he should recognise my longstanding interest in this area as well. Indeed, back in 1994 I was Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Housing and responsible for bringing in a number of changes to caravan park management, particularly in relation to tenancy arrangements, which yielded tremendous benefits to caravan park dwellers.
I do not want to go over old ground but I think it is important to put the debate into context. There have been changes to the management of caravan parks under Coalition governments and, more recently, the Labor Government. Now we confront the issue of how to treat the GST on rentals. Back in 1994 we provided for increased security of tenure. Before that time caravan park and mobile home dwellers had no security of tenure. They could be kicked out for no cause with 180 days notice, and frequently were. We introduced legislation to require landlords to give just cause, and the just causes were restricted. They essentially centred on non-payment of rent, something tangible rather than not liking the colour of a person's hair or wanting to see the back end of someone who was a nuisance.
Under our legislation compensation was payable to people who were forced to move through no fault of their own. For example, if a caravan park was rezoned and the residents were forced to move they were compensated for the cost of moving up to 300 kilometres. That was landmark legislation. It was the first legislation introduced into an Australian Parliament to protect caravan park dwellers. Subsequently, we also abolished the need to pay overnight visitor fees. We also introduced legislation to abolish the right of park owners to charge commission on the sale of vans and mobile homes on their sites unless the park owner was actually acting as the resident's agent. We also paved the way for pensioner tenants of caravan parks to be eligible for electricity rebates.
I emphasise that the Labor Party had done nothing in its 12 years in office for caravan park residents and mobile home residents. On 25 November 1998 the Labor Government introduced amendments which dealt with the sale of caravans on site, rents, private mail facilities, dispute resolution and so on. People are playing politics on this issue. The disappointing aspect of the debate is that the Labor Party is raising a legitimate issue in some respects but the Federal leader of the Labor Party has not stated that he will change the policy. I put Labor members on notice.
Mr Crittenden: John Anderson said he is not going to do anything either.
Mr D. L. PAGE: Kim Beazley has said that he will not roll it over.
Mr Crittenden: He said it is the first cab off the rank.
Mr D. L. PAGE: That is not a commitment. The second point is that Bob Carr was the first Premier to rush in and sign the agreement in relation to the introduction of tax reform. I now come to the issue. The National Party State Conference last Friday passed a unanimous resolution to exempt rentals on caravan park and mobile homes, in the same way that rentals are exempt on units and houses. I said at the conference, and I am on the public record for this also, that it is appropriate for rent to be exempt. Even though the Federal Government has said that no-one will be worse off, the formula of GST on the one hand and input credits on the other is complex. It would be much clearer and fairer if those rentals were exempt. [Time expired.]
Mr W. D. SMITH (South Coast) [4.59 p.m.]: The imposition of a GST on fees at caravan parks and residential parks is symbolic of the utter contempt the Howard Government has for the less fortunate and the disadvantaged in our communities. Mr Howard and the Treasurer continually maintain that the new tax system is not going to make taxpayers worse off, that we will all pay our fair share, including the wealthy—heavens above! This GST on caravan park fees only shows how easy it is for the ordinary citizen to slip back yet again, in our supposedly egalitarian society.
In 1996 more than 900 people were living in residential parks and caravan parks in the Shoalhaven. I am certain this number has increased, with more than 50 caravan parks in my electorate and that number again in the electorate of Kiama, which abuts mine. Permanent residents of these dwellings are predominantly either retired pensioners or families which have not been able to afford to rent in the private market. Whatever the situation, almost all are on low and fixed incomes. These are people who will feel the sting of the GST as soon as it starts. In less than three months they will know where their money is being spent and the amount of tax they will be paying with the GST. That is appalling and Prime Minister Howard is saying to these people he will not do anything about it. Once again he is using this notion of fairness.
In yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald he is quoted as saying, "The policy is staying because it is fair." How the heck can it be fair? Even our local Federal Liberal member for Gilmore, Joanna Gash, said that the GST on caravan park fees was a stuff-up, but somehow someone has whispered in her ear on this matter and she has gone fairly silent after stating the obvious. Of course it is a stuff-up when the Federal Coalition Government promises voters that they will not be worse off under a GST and forgets to mention the many, many exceptions.
Even if it were possible to see this as an unfortunate oversight, even if we were to contend that somehow the Coalition Government does not really understand the implications of its own tax system on our families, what cannot be dismissed is its disregard for the consequences on the ordinary person. This is the very core of the Federal Government's ideological substance—the brushing aside of the ordinary person and ordinary families who are doing it tough, many through circumstances out of their control. I see these terrible situations in my electorate all the time with people losing their jobs, their homes and sometimes their families. Many find themselves in residential parks because that is all they can afford. They include young families with babies, aged pensioners unable to continue in the private rental market, and single people who can no longer live at home.
These are real situations that I see in my electorate. These people do not deserve to be penalised for their misfortune by a Government which insists that we will all be better off with a GST. We have to understand that caravan parks are not simply holiday havens for tourists and visitors. The Carr Labor Government has acknowledged this with the introduction last year of new regulations to protect the rights of permanent residents in these parks. It is ironic that at the same time as these regulations are being put in place, the Howard Government stumbles along with its GST campaign tactics. Residents will be caught with the GST, indirectly or directly, because owners are entitled to recoup any GST costs from the residents. This will happen despite the Federal Government telling residents they will not have to pay a GST on site fees if they are permanent residents. Even members of the National Party are speaking out against the thoughtlessness of this tax, and still the Prime Minister refuses to look at it.
The imposition of a GST on these fees is symbolic of the arrogance, contempt and ignorance the Federal Government has for the battlers in this country—the battlers John Howard talked about during the last Federal election, the battlers he has forgotten about, although I doubt very much if he ever actually knew any of them. This morning on level 10 of this Parliament there was a bit of a shiver that was looking for a Liberal spine to run up. It did not find one this morning. Now it is looking for a National spine to run up and it cannot find one even this afternoon—same shiver, similar spine, similar mob, but it still cannot find anything to run up. This GST on van parks is an absolute disgrace and should be wiped out. In fact, the Minister for Fair Trading some months ago moved to try to help people in caravan parks, yet the Federal Government is making a mess of it yet again. [Time expired.]
Mr STONER (Oxley) [5.04 p.m.]: This poorly worded motion is a cheap political stunt by the Carr Labor Government. In fact, paragraph (2) of the original motion was ruled out of order and removed because it was blatantly untrue in claiming that Coalition members of Parliament voted in support of the GST on residential parks. The member for The Entrance has also perpetrated untruths. National Party members of Parliament have not done an about-face. We have been concerned about the scaremongering of the Labor Party over this issue. Yesterday's Daily Telegraph depicts protesters against the GST and at the front of the crowd are all the Labor Party apparatchiks with their little circles around them.
The Coalition is concerned about the perceptions that the Labor Party has created in the minds of certain people. Long before this motion was moved and the motion of 11 April I met with residents from caravan parks and mobile homes, and the permanent residents association and took up their concerns, unlike Country Labor. I wrote twice to the Federal Government and received a response outlining the true picture that there are compensatory measures for all people under the GST and that people will not be disadvantaged. Nevertheless, the Tweed convention unanimously resolved that the matter should be taken up with the Federal Government. If anything, the motion should congratulate the National Party on having the backbone to represent country constituents and taking up these issues, unlike Government members opposite.
This motion reeks of hypocrisy. The Premier and the Treasurer ran to sign off on the GST because they are looking forward to the huge windfall. In their simple scaremongering campaign they failed to mention anything about rent assistance and pension increases or the option of park owners not to charge GST. It smacks of an ineffective Federal Opposition when these sorts of issues are raised repeatedly in State Parliament. What a waste of the State Parliament's time: Federal issue after Federal issue must be raised in this place because the Federal Labor Party cannot address them successfully. The position is clear: I am fighting for the battlers in my electorate. I always have and I always will. The motion before the House is a blatant untruth. The fourth paragraph is incorrect. It seeks to condemn
the Federal Government for claiming the GST could not be altered for humans—despite making allowances for cattle on May 18.
The only allowances for cattle were made in relation to farmers and abattoirs. That is another incorrect point in this poorly worded motion. I support the amendment moved earlier by the honourable member for Davidson. This State Government stands to receive a huge windfall from the GST and I urge it to give some of that money back to permanent caravan park residents. Like the back-to-school allowance, the money should go to the people. The ball is in the Government's court.
Mr COLLIER (Miranda) [5.09 p.m.]: I am pleased to support the motion of the honourable member for Wyong. This goods and services tax [GST] is unfair because it impacts upon those who can least afford to pay it. According to statistics, more than 40 per cent of permanent residents of caravan parks are aged over 60 and the vast majority of them and their families are on pensions and low incomes. The tax is unfair because it discriminates between tenants. A person living in a $1,000-a-week flat in Vaucluse will not pay 1¢ in GST on his or her rent, but a family living permanently in Harts caravan park in Miranda will see their rent increase by 5.5 per cent—or will it be 5 per cent, $5 or $5.50? The tax is unfair because it discriminates between those who choose to pay to live in a flat and those who live in a caravan.
It is misleading to say that those in receipt of pensions and benefits will be compensated by an increase in those benefits. If all pensions increase by the same amount, people who live in caravans will have to shell out for the GST but pensioners who live in flats will not. If rents increase by 5 per cent, pensioners who are resident in caravan parks will have to live on less than $120 a week—and that is taking account of the pension increase to offset the cost of the GST. The battlers who are already doing it tough will cop it in the neck once again. The Federal Government is punishing them for being permanent residents of caravan parks. On national television on the weekend Senator Ross Lighfoot, from Western Australia, said that the GST on permanent caravan park dwellers might encourage them to get a house. That is like Marie Antoinette saying, "Let them eat cake"—and we all know what happened to her. A tenant is a tenant regardless of his or her accommodation.
Those who think the problems of permanent residents of caravan parks are confined to the North Coast, the west and the South Coast should think again. There are 400 to 500 permanent residents in the six shire residential parks and about 300 to 400 casual occupiers. The rent at residential parks is about $100 a week and many residents of those parks believe they will face a GST of 5 per cent. However, it appears that a large number of caravan park operators throughout New South Wales have informed their residents that the increase will be 5.5 per cent. I have said that the tax is unfair and I have given three reasons why. Park residents want urgent clarification of this issue, as do park managers so that they can do the right thing by their residents. The Federal Government has spent millions of dollars—$400-odd million—on an advertising campaign depicting chains falling off people wearing relieved expressions. However, the chains on permanent residents of caravan parks are being tightened; those residents are being punished for living in caravans.
On national television I also saw the honourable member for Coffs Harbour make a speech to his National Party conference calling for the abolition of the GST on permanent caravan park dwellers. I applaud the honourable member for that speech—I never thought I would see the day when I would applaud him for anything. I also applaud the honourable member for Ballina for the total frankness and candour that he demonstrated in a recent speech to this House. The Howard Government must clearly rethink the GST on caravan parks. Some people say that this is a Federal issue and that, as a State member of Parliament, I should not intervene and speak up. However, it is my duty to speak out against any tax that is unfair and that discriminates against those on low incomes who can least afford to pay; I must expose this tax for what it is. The Howard Government does not have to spend money on advertising campaigns. With one stroke of the pen, it could make a minor amendment to the GST and remove the tax on permanent dwellers of caravan parks. That will improve the lives of people residing in Sutherland shire residential caravan parks.
Pursuant to sessional orders business interrupted.
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