With the sounds of despair rioting through the streets of Greece, Spain, Ireland and others who no longer have the ability to fund themselves, it is a sign of the times that even the IMF is pushing for improved tax systems relating to land values. The IMF's "What...
BLOG: council rating
Selling alleys and lanes: latifundia at work.
Melbourne City Council is selling lanes to developers, according to The Age today. It makes a pretty penny, too, having pocketed $1.2 million from the sale of part of three lanes in the last 12 months alone. The article sparked an intense debate on the newspaper’s...
Victoria’s Transport Plan a No-Brainer
photo credit: Schaffner Sometimes the ignorance of experts makes my blood boil. Why can’t they do the arithmetic, the sums plainly before them? The Victorian Transport Plan will cost $38 billion and produce benefits of $180 billion, according to a state-commissioned...
Dr Henry wants you to read his Tax Review. Really, Really.
photo credit: raminders We follow the glitter of celebrities and our football teams and let others do the dull work of government. Our dreams are about homes, cars and holidays. But sometimes an issue is so important it deserves our undivided attention, if only...
Henry Review puts Land Tax on the Agenda
photo credit: anarchosyn The Henry Tax Review’s highlighting of Land Tax as a policy direction is a welcome and encouraging development, says Prosper Australia. “This is THE tool to liberate the people of Australia from their current financial difficulties,” Prosper...
Dear Australia, the world is watching, waiting for our bubble to burst
photo credit: robertivanc The great property speculation game is over in America and Europe. The music has stopped. Forty years of steadily increasing pressure has been released. Houses are worth a fraction of what people paid in better times, while the giant...
The Tide Turns. The Media Awakes.
photo credit: midlander1231 For too long, the media eagerly reported the property spruikers’ claim ‘prices only go higher’. This ‘truth’ turned homeowners into speculators and led a whole generation of first home buyers to commit to enormous mortgages they will only...
Rising Interest Rates in Whose Interest?
Written Oct 16th Raising interest rates will do little to address underlying economic issues, says visiting US economist Professor Michael Hudson. "The market factoring in 7 interest rates rises spells danger for the Australian economic miracle" warns Professor...
Site Value Should Rule on Setting Rates
photo credit: tholmb Letter to the Editor - The Post (W.A) Niels Charlier Jolimont Dear Editor, Re your report, " 'Wrong' rates ping home builder" (POST 15/8). Gill Vivian is absolutely right when she says she is being penalised for helping to improve her suburb, and...
Land Tax to Affordability
photo credit: kodama (home) Suburbs hit with land tax increase TAXPAYERS owed more than $227 million in land tax by the end of February - a 20 per cent increase since last year, Office of State Revenue figures reveal - with a Herald investigation finding that...