18 OCTOBER 2007 Www

18 OCTOBER 2007 www . hansard . act . gov . au Thursday, 18 October 2007 Duties Amendment Bill 2007 ..................................................................................3095 Gaming Machine Amendment Bill 2007 (No 2) .....................................................3096 Roads and Public Places (Fees) Determination 2007 (No 1)...................................3098 Planning and Environment—Standing Committee..................................................3112 Planning and Environment—Standing Committee..................................................3118 Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2007..........................................3121 Questions without notice: Emergency Services Agency—funding...............................................................3128 Health—oral and maxillofacial surgery...............................................................3128 Budget..................................................................................................................3129 Pace egg farm.......................................................................................................3131 Planning—Casey..................................................................................................3133 Budget..................................................................................................................3135 Canberra Hospital—proposed psychiatric unit....................................................3139 Emergency services—bushfire season.................................................................3140 Emergency services—fire towers ........................................................................3141 Health—risk management project .......................................................................3142 Supplementary answer to question without notice: Health—oral and maxillofacial surgery...............................................................3144 Review of the application to territory investment practices ....................................3145 Public Cemeteries Authority annual report 2006-07—corrigendum.......................3148 Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services annual report 2006-07—corrigendum........................................................................................3148 Health and Disability—Standing Committee ..........................................................3149 Territory plan—garden city provisions (Ministerial statement) ..............................3153 Education—funding negotiations (Matter of public importance)............................3155 Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2007..........................................3172 Canberra Institute of Technology Amendment Bill 2007........................................3175 Surveyors Bill 2007 .................................................................................................3178 Adjournment: Greens—staff .......................................................................................................3182 Anti-Poverty Week ..............................................................................................3182 Pink Ribbon Day..................................................................................................3184 Health—oral and maxillofacial surgery...............................................................3184 Department of Territory and Municipal Services—surveillance of staff ............3185 Emergency services—bushfire season.................................................................3185 Railway Historical Society ..................................................................................3186 Schedule of amendments: Schedule 1: Surveyors Bill 2007..........................................................................3189 Answers to questions: Stirling—block 1 section 22 (Question No 1625) ...............................................3191 Courts—electronic case management system (Question No 1628).....................3192 Hospitals—doctors (Question No 1655)..............................................................3192 Hospitals—nurses (Question No 1657) ...............................................................3193 Hospitals—iatrogenic injuries (Question No 1658) ............................................3195 Universities admissions index (Question No 1662) (Revised answer)................3195 ACT Corrective Services (Question No 1666) ....................................................3200 Schools—bank accounts (Question No 1679) .....................................................3202 Schools—closures (Question No 1688)...............................................................3203 Schools—closures (Question No 1689)...............................................................3203 Revenue commissioners—meetings (Question No 1691) ...................................3205 Workplace agreements (Question No 1694)........................................................3206 Tharwa bridge (Question No 1698) .....................................................................3207 Planning—Waramanga (Question No 1706).......................................................3207 Knowledge Fund (Question No 1710).................................................................3209 Legislative Assembly for the ACT Thursday, 18 October 2007 MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair at 10.30 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory. Duties Amendment Bill 2007 Mr Stanhope, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement. Title read by Clerk. MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Minister for the Environment, Water and Climate Change, Minister for the Arts) (10.31): I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. The Duties Amendment Bill 2007 amends the Duties Act 1999 to address a potential risk to revenue arising out of the government’s decision to abolish tax on certain business leases. As a consequence of the review of certain taxes initiated under the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Reform of Commonwealth-State Financial Relations, the IGA, lease duty, that is, the tax chargeable on a lease instrument, will be abolished in the ACT on 1 July 2009. Duty on long-term leases is retained under chapter 2 of the Duties Act. A long-term lease is a lease for a term of longer than 30 years, including where this arises as a consequence of a renewal option. Long-term leases provide effective control of the land and are liable at conveyance rates of duty. This reflects the reality of the situation in that a lease over land that extends over that period is a de facto transfer of the land and should be treated as such. In accordance with the IGA, this bill strengthens existing anti-avoidance measures related to lease instruments under chapter 5 of the Duties Act and long-term leases under chapter 2. The bill reinforces the intention of the legislation and safeguards the duty base. It is not intended to source any new revenue. The bill broadens the definition of long-term lease to clarify certain lease structures as long-term lease arrangements. In this regard, the bill deals specifically with the granting of a lease on surrender of another lease and the variation of a lease to extend its term. The provisions are intended to prevent the manipulation of leases in order to disguise what is effectively a long-term lease for the purpose of avoiding duty at the conveyance rate. Where a lease falls into these new definitions of long-term lease, conveyance duty will be assessed and a credit will be allowed for any duty that has already been paid under the chapter 5 lease provisions. Transitional provisions have already been inserted into the Duties Act to ensure consistent and equal treatment for all lessors, both before and after the abolition of the lease duty in 2009. The bill introduces two amendments that serve to clarify the intent of those transitional provisions. 3095 18 October 2007 Legislative Assembly for the ACT An option to renew a lease can only be assessed for duty once the option is executed. The bill amends the Duties Act to make explicit that, where a lease executed before 1 July 2009 contains an option for renewal, that option is dutiable where the main purpose was to defer execution until after the abolition of lease duty. This brings the practice into line with the use of other arrangements that might be employed to avoid duty by delaying the execution of a new lease. The final amendment clarifies what duty may be refunded if a lease is terminated before the end of its term. The Duties Act provides for a refund of duty if neither the lessee nor any associated person continues to lease the property under a new arrangement. The bill broadens this provision to include a lease of substantially the same property to deter a new lease from being structured slightly differently to the terminated lease just to avoid duty. I commend the Duties Amendment Bill to the Assembly. Debate (on motion by Mr Mulcahy) adjourned to the next sitting. Gaming Machine Amendment Bill 2007 (No 2) Mr Stanhope, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement. Title read by Clerk. MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business

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