BLOG: Commentary

NSW quits, Victoria hits

NSW quits, Victoria hits

It’s been a big week for property tax. On Sunday we learned the new NSW government was extending stamp duty concessions for first home buyers and will introduce legislation this week to scrap the former government’s ‘opt-in’ stamp duty to land tax scheme. We don’t...

Henry George & The Science of Political Economy

Henry George & The Science of Political Economy

Friday May 5th, 2023 6:30pm School of Political Economy, Level 1, 49 Smith Street. Free event. All welcome. Register at Eventbrite Henry George (1839-1897) rose to fame as a social reformer and economist amid the industrial and intellectual turbulence of the late...

Want to know the truth about property taxes? Try these facts

Want to know the truth about property taxes? Try these facts

The confrontation over Victoria’s Social and Affordable Housing Levy may have been short lived when the proposed levy was quickly dropped after conniptions by the property lobby but the shibboleth that property taxes represent a large proportion of the cost of buying a house is economic propaganda that just won’t die.

What if land markets are monopolies?

What if land markets are monopolies?

Planning deregulation, especially rezoning, has been repeatedly touted as a key policy solution to Australia’s eye watering house prices. The story goes that prices remain high because the supply of new dwellings in accessible, desirable locations has not kept pace...