The Budget missed an opportunity to curb the drain on public money to land speculation, according to the Canberra Conservation Council.
Its president, Jacqui Rees, said yesterday that the Budget should have abolished the 50 per cent concessional rate of betterment tax for residential redevelopment.
It should have corrected the anomaly that some dual and multi-occupancies where the title is not divided pay only one set of rates for two or more sets of services.
“”The ACT cannot afford this extravagance when basic public services are being run down for lack of funds,” she said.
Projected rises in rates are a direct result of planning policies because some land values had been forced up through speculation on lease charges.
The Budget reflected the easy options in the environment portfolio.
“”Hard issues such as vegetation preservation and serious weed eradication legislation are not addressed,” she said. “”The Government needs to take a more courageous integrated approach if it is to match its rhetoric with action.”