Tuesday, 12 November 2024

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (13:26): We keep getting questions out in my electorate about why they continue to have to pay so much in taxes when the government continue to have cost blowouts on the Suburban Rail Loop. What we have seen through the growth corridors is the increase in rent and the impact on housing affordability at a time when we want to see more houses on the market at a better price so people can afford just to get by and live. People in the community are continually coming forward talking about the increase in rent, and they understand 100 per cent that the rent has been increased because the government continues to increase taxes such as land tax. They continue to penalise them every time a landlord buys or invests in a property in the growth corridors. That effectively rolls downhill, and those people end up paying that with increased rent. This is a big issue for our local community and one that continues to get raised, but it does not end there.

Now the government want to not just tax them while they are renting but increase taxes on dead people. This government wants to put a death tax in place by stealth to ensure that people, when they die, will pay more money to the Victorian government to pay off its debts. How has the debt got so out of control that we are now increasing taxes on people that die by over 600 per cent – over 600 per cent of extra taxes on people that are dying here in this state? This government cut $20 million out of the courts system and continues to fail when it comes to controlling the budget here in Victoria. People in Berwick are sick of it, and they are sick of paying off the waste – (Time expired)