The ACT Government has indefinitely extended land tax exemptions for landlords who rent their properties at less than 75% market rates, to help address.
Australian Greens
The ACT Government has secured national reform to the National Construction Code, with all new homes built across Australia to include minimum accessibility standards.
At the national meeting of Building Ministers on Friday afternoon (30 April), the majority agreed to include minimum accessibility standards for residential housing and apartments in the National Construction Code 2022 based on the Livable Housing Design Guidelines silver standards.
Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti said she was delighted to have secured this national reform.
“This is a win for the community,” Minister Vassarotti said. “Modest but significant changes will mean housing built in the future will better meet needs. This is important not only for people with disabilities, mobility issues, or who are ageing. This reform is for all of us.
Australian Greens
The ACT Government wants to ensure every new residential is built to meet accessibility standards, not just in the ACT but across Australia.
At the upcoming meeting of all the nation’s Building Ministers, ACT Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti will call for mandatory accessibility standards in the National Construction Code, so that all future homes, townhouses and apartments meet a threshold level of universal design.
“Imagine a world where every home is accessible or more easily adaptable for most people regardless of age, disability, background or other factors. That’s what universal design is about and it’s how we plan to build a better normal in Canberra homes,” Minister Vassarotti said.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, left, with energy and emissions reduction minister Shane Rattenbury. Picture: Nathan Schmidt
ENERGY retailers will be forced to inform their customers if there is a better deal available when new legislation, introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly today (April 20), comes into effect later this year, says ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
“These new rules will require energy retailers to tell you about a ‘reference price’ – a common benchmark that your deal will be compared against – and to tell you if a better deal is available, without you having to ask,” he says.
“We know the difference between a standing offer price and the best market price can be up to $400 a year. We also know that around 40 per cent of Canberrans are on standing offer contracts.”
Australian Greens
[E&OE]
Madam Speaker, the Greens have in the past made the point that every budget, now, needs to be a climate budget. We know that declaring a climate emergency wasn’t theoretical but is driving us to further urgent action.
This budget has climate action as its headline, and delivers climate responses – not just in the obvious ways, either, but in the broadest interpretation. This is a significant and positive change. The Greens took the platform of a Building a Better Normal to the election, and as you can see with six MLAs here today, many people in Canberra chose that Better Normal. This budget is one of the first clear steps towards that.