Thursday, 12 September 2024

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:11): On Tuesday 28 November 2023 I raised in Parliament an adjournment about the Berwick Church of Christ, which had received a notification from the State Revenue Office that the land exemption under section 74(1) of the Land Tax Act 2005, ‘Charitable institutions and purposes’, was being removed from what was thought to be the undeveloped portion of the property. It did include of course car parking, areas where there are youth activities and family picnics, and unrealised by the State Revenue Office, there were also partial buildings on that part of the property that also went into a different section. This tax was being made retrospective, back to 2014, on a church that had built its own church and only just paid for it – a mudbrick building. The tax debt amounted to $552,142.50, and it included penalty interest applied to the retrospective period. I am thrilled to say that the church has today advised me that after the appeal there has now been an exemption for it and for this ridiculous amount. But this was an error made by the City of Casey due to zoning, and it does mean that many other churches and charitable institutions are still facing this type of crisis. I remain concerned that we are attacking people and groups that actually reach out to our community with food banks, charitable ways of helping people and pastoral care. They provide food, clothing and other necessities.