Enews: VC Advocacy, New office

Prime Minister Turnbull has promoted his progressive agenda with Value Capture as the mechanism to break the infrastructure logjam. Project Director Karl Fitzgerald was interviewed on ABC 774 Melbourne with Jon Faine at 830am yesterday morning on the hot topic. “We spend, you win, you pay” was the byline. Listen or read the transcript.

Call to action: hit the comments section, talkback radio, contact your local MP – do it all – this is the best momentum we’ve had in decades! Congratulate Malcolm Turnbull on his value capture stance by sending him a message. Do the same for the Minister for Major Projects Paul Fletcher too. Find your local MP by typing in your postcode. 5 minutes work ;)

David Collyer penned a top piece on Do We At Last Have An Infrastructure Prime Minister?:

    We say, if government used land tax, the market would decide whether and where infrastructure projects actually added value, a brilliant way to protect taxpayers from white elephant civic projects.

And in further good news, the Property Council of Australia CEO Ken Morrison was quoted today in the AFR’s Dont Let Cities become 21st Century Dark Satanic Mills:

    The suggestion (of utilising LVC) has been warmly welcomed by investors and groups such as the Property Council of Australia, which argues that so-called tax increment financing is a proven way of overcoming two of the biggest hurdles facing new projects – finding enough upfront capital and getting all levels of government working together.

“The beauty of tax increment financing is that it secures funding from additional revenue streams without the need to levy new taxes,” property council chief executive Ken Morrison said.

“It’s is an approach that uses economic growth to fund projects and we strongly encourage the government to further explore this opportunity.”

FYI Tax Increment Financing is similar in approach to Value Capture. Stay posted for a primer detailing the minor differences between the various systems of recycling economic rents for the public good. Now is the time to contact your local MP – consider it grand final day!

Prosper is looking for an administration all rounder with bookkeeping, social media and great communication skills to take on the position of part-time office and membership manager. We are looking for someone who has the ability to combine managing the administration, bookkeeping and membership of Prosper with the communication and campaigning skills to correspond with members, produce our e-news, assist with the website and get involved on social media.

Previous experience in an NGO or activist setting is desirable.

Applications are due this Friday 16th October, 4pm.

More details

Watch out for stories from Broome, where my partner has been relocated for work.

Announcing the move to our exciting new permanent office at 64 Harcourt St, North Melbourne! The venue is located conveniently near Melbourne University and has pleasant views across to the North Melbourne Primary school. We are looking forward to the scenic balconies for reading…. and having a cuppa with you! The team appreciated working in our temporary home at LSX but now the new office is ready, it’s time to settle down. Thankyou for your patience over the last few years with as many moves as we’ve had in the last century.

Check our contact page for the map to our new location. We are currently organising the phone and internet but it will be up and running tomorrow. The office will be open to visitors soon. With all the value capture potential building, it is time to hit the ground running!

Keep in touch with daily news stories on both the Earthsharing and Dont Buy Now facebook pages, twitter too.

Jess Wright,
Office Manager