Hobart has made it into the big league! – Leo Foley
Jan 23, The Mercury
House prices have pushed us into the top 20 of unaffordable cities in the world.
After seven years of boom, the legacy of this government, elected by ordinary
working people, will be a city owned by the elites.
It need not be so. House building is a competitive industry, and with proper
foresight on trade skills, costs will always tend to rise only in line with wages
and the general price index.
The real ‘boom’ has been in land price. Speculation in real estate has pushed
land beyond the price of Tasmanian wages. Young Tasmanian families are excluded
from the market. That demands government action, not with more subsidies and
grants that benefit only existing owners, but real tax reform that will overcome
the existing market failure.
Associate Professor (Economics) Graeme Wells points the way in his letter,
23 January. He says “There would be significant efficiency gains in moving from
the present transactions tax to a flat-rate land tax.” Not only would it be
efficient, it would also be equitable.
The Labor government, under pressure on so many fronts, still has the opportunity
to create conditions of prosperity for all Tasmanians, and to make home ownership
a reality for following generations. Will it rise to the occasion?
Leo Foley
Lenah Valley, Tasmania
Justice the Aim
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History’s Lessons – Terry Dwyer The Australian |
QuotationsMargarita Arias, Costa Rica:Only those who have fought for the right to protect their own bodies from abuse can truly understand the rape and plunder of our forests, rivers and soils. Aristotle (384-322BC):The whole of the land was in the hands of a few, and if the cultivators did not pay their rents, they became subject to bondage .. Marcus Aurelius (121-180AD):Poverty is the mother of crime. Cesare Baccaria:The history of mankind is an immense sea of errors in which few obscure truths may be found. Ambrose Bierce “The Devil’s Dictionary”:Geonomics: Recovery of Site-Rents for Urban Density
Around the world, a few dozen cities collect ground rents – some of the money that people spend or are willing to spend on a location – rather than tax buildings and other economic goods. Besides raising public revenue more efficiently, these places also motivate efficient use of urban land. No longer taxed for improving their property, while prodded by a rent levy to make improvements, owners who had been speculating or procrastinating get busy and put their once under-utilized land to better use. Overall, better land use raises density in particular and livability in general – goals that other jurisdictions still long for. Make Poverty HistoryWe will never make poverty history until we rip up the tax system Mark Braund, Saturday December 3, 2005 The Guardian Despite the prime minister’s resolve, the year in which Britain was to lead the world in making poverty history has achieved little. This month there is one last opportunity as the World Trade Organisation gathers in Hong Kong. But even if this meeting throws up some surprises, we will end the year little closer to ending poverty. Increased aid, debt cancellation and fairer trade would certainly have some impact, but they would not address the underlying causes of poverty. The Ultimate Eco TaxKarl “K1” Williams wrote this snappy short piece for a Greens Mag. |