by Warwick Smith Warwick Smith smells a rat in Scomo’s sudden solution to housing affordability – planning reform – coming just ten days after developers’ call for same. SCOTT MORRISON has suddenly announced that he cares about housing affordability. This…
NSW Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet floated the idea of exchanging Stamp Duty for State Land Tax in The Australian yesterday. We warmly welcomed his initiative and explained some of the big benefits this offered NSW. By 5.30pm yesterday, Philip Coorey…
A prize awaits the first state Premier with the political capital and farsightedness to exchange Stamp Duty for State Land Tax. The move would be a magnet for economic activity. As economists repeat ad nauseum, it is all on the…
Saturday’s Australian Financial Review always needs a nice read and today it is the ACT government’s progressive removal of Stamp Duty that increased council rates on a million dollar property from $2200 a few years ago to $3000. What a…
In its campaign to rid Australia of bad taxes, Prosper Australia surveyed Victorian municipal council candidates and asked their opinion on the rates issue. We explained the difference between Capital Improved Value (CIV) and Site Value (SV) and the economic…
The Australian Football League has bought the Docklands Stadium freehold asset that cost $460m to build in 2000 from the Andrews ALP Victorian government for $200m – allegedly to assist “tenant clubs struggling under onerous deals to play at the…
The NSW Liberal-National Coalition government has just passed new laws to sell the state’s Land Registry to private interests. Prosper is bitterly opposed to this sale and has spoken out against it repeatedly. This is a core government function: “Each…
by Dr Cameron Murray cross-posted from The Conversation Value capture actually can work when it comes to funding new transport infrastructure. My research on the Gold Coast light rail provides the figures to demonstrate the size of the gains to…
Victoria is reviewing its Local Government Act 1989. The original Act is now subject to over 90 amending acts, so the Review is timely and necessary. Buried among the good ideas to improve local government is a very bad one,…
The 2016 EJ Craigie Writing Award was presented at the 125th Annual Henry George Commemorate Dinner to Philip Soos for his excellent article Australia’s Real Lifters and Leaners published by Independent Australia on June 2. While the award is for…