OUR HISTORY

Beginnings

Prosper Australia grew out of a campaign for social reform at the beginning of the 20th century. The idea of taxing land instead of income from labour enjoyed widespread support during the progressive era (1890-1920) with pockets of opposition from landowners. Both the conservative and Labor Parties had Land Value Taxation in their policy platforms. We were part of a wider movement for a more equitable society and dynamic economy.

Established in 1883 by Ignatius Bell and William Dickinson, the Land Nationalisation Society began as a discussion group that supported the single tax among other methods for making the land the common property of all, instead of the private property of a few. In 1890, it became the Single Tax League of Victoria. 

Henry George

“Men like Henry George are rare, unfortunately. One cannot imagine a more beautiful combination of intellectual keenness, artistic form, and fervent love of justice.” Albert Einstein

Henry George was a popular economic philosopher in the late 19th Century. His book, Progress & Poverty, stormed the world in the 1880s and asked why there was so much poverty despite the progress brought on by the industrial revolution. George spelled out how land ownership laws create a pyramid society, whereby the rich can live off the poor. His simple but evocative writing alerted people to this travesty and provided a solution: land tax.

The movement inspired by his work came to be known as Georgism.

Henry George was the first economist to demonstrate that taxes based on resources – which he called land tax – produce the greatest prosperity with the least adverse effects. He demonstrated how poverty and unemployment could be minimised by the removal of all other taxes (including income tax) when replaced with land tax.

Naturally, proposing to tax resources upset the wealthy ruling class, and although George was bitterly opposed, he nearly became Mayor of New York.

Leading intellectuals, business leaders and politicians, including Albert Einstein, Alfred Deakin and Henry Ford, saw George as one of the most important contributors to Classical economics. George gained huge support by making economics understandable to the average person. Proof of his popularity in Australia saw some 10,000 people attend George’s inspirational speech at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in 1890. Similar numbers followed his talks around the country.

When he died, one fifth of New York’s population came out to pay their respects as his funeral procession made its way from Grand Central Palace to the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Henry George’s historic Australian tour

In the same year the Single Tax League of Victoria was founded, Henry George toured Australia with his wife Annie, on what he called their belated honeymoon.

Over three months, the Georges visited 34 cities and towns where Henry George lectured on the single tax, free trade, and the duty of the Christian churches to help eradicate poverty through social and political reform. George’s speeches were well attended – including over 10,000 people in Melbourne at the Royal Exhibition Building – and received largely positive reviews in the local and national press. 

In the year following the tour, the annual Henry George Commemorative Address was commenced to honour his birthday and continue to promote his ideas. This dinner continues to this day and is a much-loved event on the Prosper calendar.

Progress Magazine

On May 1st 1893 “The Beacon” was established as a monthly publication under the editorial guidance of F.T.Hodgkiss. The Beacon continued until 1900 when it went into a hiatus. The magazine was resurrected again with Hodgkiss as editor in 1902 when Progress Magazine was born. Initially a broadsheet newspaper, Progress reached distribution heights of 20,000 copies an issue. Other editors have included A.R. Hutchinson (1943-1986); G.A. Forster (1980s-1990s); Karl Williams (1990s-2015), Andy Moore, Karl Fitzgerald, and Richard Meredith. Progress Magazine is currently edited by Rayna Fahey. 

While our organisation has changed names numerous times, Progress has continued to be published under this name, with issues numbering in the thousands.

The Henry George Foundation of Australia

During the dislocation of the depression and war years, support tapered off. However, a dedicated cadre remained enthused. A band of businessmen, including Walter Burley Griffin clubbed together in 1920 and bought a property so the organisation would have a permanent home in Melbourne. A generous benefactor, Dr Edgar Culley, helped to found the Henry George Foundation of Australia on the 25th of May 1928.

William Henry Renwick of Victoria served as President of the Foundation with Vice-Presidents from every major Australian region with a Georgist organization including: Frederick William Hagelthorn (Victoria), John Robert Firth (New South Wales), Alfred Chappel (South Australia), William Henry Bell (West Australia), Herbert Freemonth Hardacre (Queensland), and William Ernest Lloyd (Tasmania).

The HGFA continues today and is the major funding source for Georgist organisations in Australia.

Political success

Victoria was the first state to bring land tax to its parliament in 1875. The Bill was rejected, but it did provide the benchmark for later moves as it was brought into the Federal Parliament in 1910. The purpose of this legislation was to break up the large land estates, and it was successful in these aims. This legislation lasted until 1952, when it was deemed a state matter.

In Victoria, to make the change from Net Annual Value to our preferred Site Value Rating in 1920, a ratepayer poll was conducted, which showed site value rating was just and equitable and that most people would benefit from the change. Councils gradually submitted to the demand of ratepayers through the 1920s-80s. 

Disappointment

In the 1970s, Victoria introduced a charge of $1 to view a municipal valuation. It had previously been free (and more transparent). This was an issue for ratepayers and a setback for organisations that compiled government statistics, such as Prosper. Our figures showed conclusively that ordinary people and businesses were better off with Site Value Rating. Further challenges were introduced with the Capital Improved Value rating system, hidden in the Kennett-era amalgamation of councils (1995). Ratepayers who had used the democratic process to move the rate base to Site Value or land value only were now rated on the combined value of land and improvements.

Canberra and Leasehold

Realising that the announcement of the location of the new national capital (Canberra) would prompt a crippling land grab, early 20th-century planners devised a Georgist-inspired leasehold system to prevent this from occurring. Canberra was thereby created without land prices or speculation. Canberra designer Walter Burley Griffin – a founder of The Henry George Club – assisted in drawing up the leasehold system. This stood the test of time until the 1970s, when the Gorton Government all but abolished it by introducing market rentals. 

At the time Prosper campaigned for a revamp of the leasehold system, suggesting the real problem was not the leasehold system itself but that the 20-year intervals between valuations were too lengthy, and valuations were unrealistically low as a result. In 2012, a new local government rating system was introduced, building on the knowledge and experience of the past.

Prosper continues to publish research highlighting the advantages of the Canberra system and demonstrating the economic potential to other states should they follow suit.

Prosper Australia Today

The loss of the federal land tax in 1952, changes to the leasehold system in Canberra, and the loss of Site Value Rating in Victoria were part of continual attacks upon the world’s longest-serving land tax system. Even in the site value rating states of Queensland and New South Wales, the introduction of ‘minimum rates’ has distorted the rating system such that owners of lesser-valued land effectively subsidise owners of more valuable sites. 

A change of strategy and name ensued, and Prosper Australia has developed into the modern research and advocacy organisation that it is today. Regular analysis, such as the Speculative Vacancies report, Prosper’s investigations into reforms in the ACT, and our periodic work assessing monopoly rents, continue to help shine a light on a more rational, fairer economic system. Today, the popularity of tax havens, Australia’s repetitive land bubbles, the compliance costs heaped on business, and the steep taxes on labour mean our views are being considered with fresh eyes.

While technology has transformed our nation and our political and economic systems have become much more sophisticated, some values have stood the test of time. Henry George’s idea that everyone has a right to a share in the value of society’s progress is one such idea. In this age of growing inequality and a rapidly destabilising climate, there’s a lot of work left to do.

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