Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Ageing and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Hansard source

I want to give the member for Bonner some advice. If she would like to explain to her constituents where the largesse is coming from that is flowing the way of her electorate, she might look to regional Australia. There has been over a billion dollars gutted out of there by this government in the scandalous budget that they have just brought down. Tonight, I rise to speak about the actions in this House earlier today over the introduction of the luxury car tax. Perhaps I was a bit naive, but I thought that the whole point of having a parliament was so that bills like the one on the luxury car tax could be fairly debated before being voted on. I would like to place on record my disappointment over the way that the current government rushed this bill through the House. There was not much opportunity to consider the bill and there was no warning, until the last minute, that it would be voted on. Many coalition MPs, including me, were not able to speak on it. The Australian parliament is supposed to be a place of fairness and openness. All members of this House should be given the time to study legislation before being asked to debate it. More importantly, every MP should have the right to speak on behalf of his or her constituents. I was elected to represent the people of the Parkes electorate and I should be able to do that.

I am appalled that I was not given the opportunity to speak on the issue despite the fact that the implementation of this legislation will have a huge effect on my constituents. As far as I am concerned, the antics today are an infringement on the democratic rights of the people of my electorate. Had I been given the chance to speak I would have told the parliament that, for many people in areas such as my electorate, owning a four-wheel drive is not a luxury but rather a necessity. Many of my constituents need to have a four-wheel drive in order to get to work or to get their kids to school. There are many roads that are impassable during wet weather, and if residents living on these roads do not have an adequate vehicle then they are left stranded when it rains. I would have also mentioned that four-wheel drives are necessary in my electorate because many of the roads have a lot of animal activity at night, and in most cases large four-wheel drives with a bullbar can mean the difference between staying on the road and having an accident. In addition to this, this tax will affect many car dealerships in my electorate who rely heavily on the four-wheel-drive market to sustain their businesses.

I was not given the opportunity to raise these and many others issues during the debate. This bill was rushed through this House and democracy was overlooked in the process. I would also like to use this opportunity tonight to comment on the amendment raised by the member for New England. This amendment, raised in relation to the luxury car tax bill was, I believe, lacking in detail. The member suggested an exception to the tax for ‘a four-wheel drive vehicle that is registered in a rural area’. While the member may have good intentions in raising the amendment, I do not think that the amendment was specific enough and it may well have led to some city people finding loopholes in the legislation. After all, what would stop someone who lives primarily in a city residence from finding a way to register their vehicle in a rural area to avoid the tax? How do you define a rural area? And what about families who may not live in a rural area but have to purchase a larger vehicle such as a Tarago to accommodate a child with a disability? Under this amendment, they get overlooked.

There were too many variables in this amendment and not enough clarity. In addition, I was not given enough time to properly consider what I was voting for, which is why I chose to abstain from voting. Every single vote we cast in this place has an effect on the laws of this country, and I was not willing to make a split-second decision on something that has such large implications in my electorate. I resolutely believe that people living in rural areas, such as those in my electorate, should be exempt from this tax. Any amendments to this legislation must specify geographic locations, and be absolutely watertight so that the four-wheel-drive owner in Toorak or Vaucluse cannot find a way to make themselves exempt. I also believe that families who must accommodate the transport needs of a disabled child should be exempt. I support the call by the Leader of the Nationals, the member for Wide Bay, for this measure to be dealt with in some detail by a Senate committee. A committee is the appropriate platform for this legislation to be considered in detail. I will be making a submission to this Senate committee so that the voices of the people in my electorate will be heard in relation to this issue.

See this speech in context