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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-03 Daily Xml
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LAND TAX

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:22): I would like to put on the record today two issues which greatly concern my constituents and I suggest many other South Australians, particularly country residents. The first is that of land values and the taxes imposed on them by way of rates from councils. The simple fact is that land values obviously have gone up substantially over the past few years—that is fine—but I have many constituents on fixed incomes who, even with the subsidies on council rates for pensioner concession, etc., are still struggling to find the money to pay the rates on their properties which, in many cases, have appreciated greatly. They do not want to be put in the position where they have to sell their properties. They are most concerned and alarmed that they are put under continued financial strain to find the money to pay for these rates along with everything else around them that is going up.

It is fine for us in this place and for others who receive regular and reliable income to deal with this. We can plan for it and we can accommodate it fairly satisfactorily. I acknowledge that council rates are not a great deal of expenditure for most people. Of course, they are a burden, but they are not all that significant in the scheme of things. If you are running a farming property or a business or whatever, they are not too bad. The problem arises, as I mentioned earlier, for many elderly people and those on low incomes. They own a property, or maybe they are buying a property, and they have to find a quarterly payment for their council rates.

I also acknowledge that councils work overtime in order to try to accommodate many of these people and, indeed, come to arrangements with people on means to pay their rates. However, that has a logical conclusion, because they might struggle through one year and yet they find that the next year they are back in the same situation where they have their annual rates bill. They are still on a low fixed income.

The price of fuel has gone up, which I will come to in a minute, as has the price of food and, of course, in the current situation, the price of basic foodstuffs is rising alarmingly, and they are trying to get through on little or no income. They get to the stage where they cannot afford to go out. They cannot do anything. They put everything on the backburner just to survive. I raise that issue and I have no doubt that other members in this house will be getting the same sort of calls from their constituents that I am. It is an issue we have to address. It is an equity issue for older people and people in poor circumstances who simply cannot find the money to run with our way of life and the high cost of everything today.

The other issue I would like to pay some attention to, which is an enormous issue for people, both in metropolitan and regional areas, but even more so for regional people, is the price of petrol. It is an enormous issue out there. If you are paying $1.35 in Adelaide I can guarantee that you would be paying $1.50, $1.55 or $1.60 in many parts of the country, and many parts of the country do not have the discounts available to people that are available in the metropolitan area.

Yesterday I noticed that one service station down on the highway had fuel at $1.33 per litre and this morning it was $1.48. I know that my constituents down on the South Coast are, generally speaking, paying around 15 to 20¢ per litre more than you would pay in the metropolitan area. Indeed, when you are paying $1.33 here, on Kangaroo Island they are paying upwards of $1.57, $1.58.

It is not the local fuel retailers that are setting that price, it is the fuel companies. The poor old local retailers in country areas get belted around the ears quite unfairly because it is outside of their control. In this world of ours you just have to have fuel. Of course, the double-whammy for many people in the country, and particularly in my electorate at this particular juncture, is that there is no public transport; it just does not exist.

Time expired.

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