Latest News & Commentary
The Census saved!
The Abbott government has agreed to spend $250 million on the 2016 census and to replace the Australian Bureau of Statistics computer systems, parts of which are 30 years old. The census is a critically important national statistical tool. It measures population and...
Foreign investment curbs benefit Australian investors
Over the weekend the Andrews Government announced a tax on foreign investment in Victorian real estate. This includes a 3% Stamp Duty surcharge and a 0.5% Land Tax premium for absentee owners. On top of the $5,000 foreign investment fee announced by the Federal...
Value Capture for Victoria
Debate over the new Melbourne Metro Tunnel and the funding needed is expected to heat up now that PM Abbott has said the $1.5 for the E-W Link is 'locked in a box'. An interesting article in The Age highlighted the need for value capture: One idea floated this...
Hudson: Labor Incentives in the Ancient Near East
Prof Michael Hudson on the Ancient Near East by Renegadeeconomists on Mixcloud 04/01/2015 An interview on the new Michael Hudson book - Labor in the Ancient World, the latest in the series on the Ancient Near East, co-edited with Piotr Steinkeller. Karl: Welcome to...
Prosper urges SA government to end Stamp Duty for State Land Tax
The South Australian government is undertaking a tax review to boost state competitiveness and economic efficiency. Their main focus is considering abolishing conveyencing Stamp Duty and funding this by removing exemptions from the existing State Land Tax. Prosper...
Melbourne and Sydney are in housing oversupply
by Lindsay David If I were an Australian central banker, politician, bank economist, or even a negatively geared property investor, I'd be telling you Australia has a chronic housing shortage, which is responsible for our sky-high housing prices. But as an independent...
Australian land prices go vertical
By Leith van Onselen Core Logic-RP Data has released its Capital Markets Report for 2015, which contains some disturbing data on Australia’s land costs, which have gone vertical despite shrinking in size: The price of vacant residential land across the capital cities...
Andrew’s Rate Capping Folly
Cr Stephen Mayne invited a Prosper presentation at the Future Melbourne meeting last night. This followed on from the February MCC meeting I presented to in reaction to the short sighted Victorian Government decision to cap local council rating. Cr Mayne had asked...
Property rentier collects its spoils
By Leith van Onselen Hot on the heels of Prime Minister, Tony Abbott’s gutless announcement that he won’t reform negative gearing, prime spokesman for the property industry, the Property Council of Australia (PCA), has released the following statement: Executive...
134% cheaper!
Comedy central, this guy says it all. If only there was a transcript! The emotions this video elicit will only grow following Tony Abbott's forceful ruling out of Negative Gearing reform today. He wants 'lower, simpler, fairer taxes' and then goes on to say it was the...
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