When the economy slams shut, the market exposes those who don’t have to work for a living. Whilst the media focuses on those thrown into 4.30am Centrelink queues, at the other extreme are those who benefit come rain, hail or shine. Such privilege is reserved for...
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has pre-announced Land Tax changes ahead of Monday night’s state budget. Expect a dramatic budget contraction as Victoria’s key ‘own revenue’ source, Stamp Duty, has shrunk with the fall in both property transaction volumes and prices....
The 2019 Federal Election is only a few days away… But how can you maximise your vote to shift the tax system away from unproductive rent seeking? Which parties have the best policies to deter land speculation, and reduce wealth inequality from inflated land prices?...
For our collective angst over Australia's economic decline, wage growth is an indicator most dreadful. Look into the eyes of stagnating wages growth and see property markets crash, governments crumble, and hi-viz-vested citizens burning bankers in the streets. What...
The Andrews government have privatised the Land Titles Registry this week on a 40 year lease for sum of $2.86bn. The Government claim that this exercise is to “fund new schools, hospital and transport infrastructure.” Let us be clear, this sale does not fund a thing....
An article has been doing the rounds - House of Cards - by Matt Burnie and Craig Tindale, that we highly commend. Rarely do articles array so much data in devastating order. There must be over 100 links highlighting the risky nature of our economic miracle from one...
As Australian capital cities spill out into their hinterland, our regional cities and towns serviced by good infrastructure are failing worse than ever to attract their share of population growth. Politicians regularly breast-beat about the developmental imbalance,...
Australia experienced an increasingly gigantic bubble in land prices during the 1880s and the beginning of the 1890s, and the city of Melbourne became bubble-central. Michael Cannon provides an excellent account of the period in The Land Boomers. Henry George's...
The Andrews government has announced State Land Tax will be calculated annually rather than every two years, a painless inexpensive reform Prosper urges all states to adopt. The Valuer-General’s assessment is used to calculate council rates and land tax. Valuers today...
In April last year, the High Court of Australia affirmed the right of a West Tasmanian council to levy rates on the seabed within its municipal boundaries. This precedent means, in a legal sense, land is land, even underwater. It has implications for industrial...