Baillieu’s new Building Tax and Land Subsidy
“This reform means Victorians have a new building tax while the value of our fire service boosts the price of land."
Tag tax reform
What a load of garbage!
Hobsons Bay Council is considering charging residents by the kilogram for garbage removal. While markets have their place, putting a price on rubbish will have many unintended consequences, few of them pleasant. The anti-social will cost-shift, stuffing their garbage into…
Big Holes or Money Pits?
Major transport projects costing billions are being proposed for Sydney and Melbourne to shrink these sprawling cities. NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s plans to ‘fix’ Parramatta Road by ripping it up and installing the M3 in a cut-and-cover tunnel. The poor…
Just say No!
Last week, RBA governor Glenn Stevens assured us the big Aussie banks are solvent, that he can and will print dollars if necessary and cannot see a housing bubble pop when he examines the entrails. The only thing in the…
Beware the rent-seeking organisation: don’t be dudded by housing data
Reprinted from The Conversation One of the more interesting outcomes the 2011 Census produced was the figures concerning the housing market. The reason for this interest is how the results contrasted with the idea that Australia currently suffers from an…
Speculative Vacancies in Melbourne Report: 2012
20 June 2012 There are 90,700 vacant houses in Melbourne – 5.9 per cent of the total – according to Earthsharing Australia’s 5th annual Speculative Vacancies Report. “Our lazy land use makes a mockery of the drive for affordable housing,”…
Yes Please, Treasurer Baird!
The NSW Treasurer flew a kite in Saturday’s AFR (Baird flags insurance levy reform in budget). We should all come to attention and salute a positive change. We pay for fire fighters through a charge on insurances – in NSW,…
Weak Construction gets Weaker
Dwelling construction continues to fall, according to the AIG-HIA Performance of Construction Index for May. Commercial construction and house building activity weakened to 34.7, where anything below 50.0 represents contraction. In parallel, the ABS Building Approvals graph looks like a…
Welfare offers rich pickings for the wealthy
"The greatest source of redistribution to the rich occurs through the land market, which is usually the largest tangible market in modern economies."
Citizens are entitled to RSPT
PM Gillard’s defiant speech to the Minerals Council of Australia yesterday – asserting national ownership of our mineral wealth and the country’s right to a share of the bounty being dug up and shipped out – was good politics, good…