Regarding the recent ACT Liberal Party scare campaign against rates, Dr Terry Dwyer writes: Being fundamentally disinterested in political games but keenly interested in policy and good government (which, judging from Mr Slipper’s emails, sadly does not always seem to…
photo credit: Domiriel Influential SMH Journalist Jessica Irvine today writes about the urgent need for Land Tax to be prioritised in Land is the Best Hope for Fixing the Tax System. Make sure you see the film Real Estate 4…
At this market climax, let me remind all of the risks of compulsive, over-optimistic ambition. In Leo Tolstoys’ tale, ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need?’ written in 1886, a wealthy peasant named Pahlom is told of the rich earth…
photo credit: Urban~Spaceman Miners finally agree to tax reform. What are the changes? The attempt to harness economic rents for the public good has been renamed from the Resource Super Profits tax to the Mineral Resource Rent Tax. The…
photo credit: UGArdener This morning, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glen Stevens appeared on Seven Network’s Sunrise program to talk up interest rates and talk down the property market. Using tabloid television to broadcast RBA views is unprecedented. It…
You’ve got to love real estate spruikers. They are so consistent and always so wrong. David Morrell purports to be a buyers’ advocate. On 5th March in The Age he was saying how you can’t go wrong with “land banking”…
photo credit: Ravages by Gavin R. Putland If the Australian economy has come through the Global Financial Crisis in such fine shape, why do we have an official unemployment rate over 5%, and a real unemployment rate two or three…
photo credit: Omar Eduardo Taken from an early 1900’s document I don’t know what the country is coming to; I work from morning till night every day of my life and yet it’s as much as I can do to…
Since the Howard government gained control of the Senate, we have been hearing numerous proposals for reducing the top marginal rate of income tax. The excuse is that high marginal rates reduce the incentive for wealth creation and encourage tax…
SPIN: The Family Home is exempt from land tax. (And all the people shall say: Amen.) FACT: If home buyers don’t have to pay land tax, they can afford higher mortgage repayments, hence higher prices. While the price of a…