The call for infrastructure spending to lift Australia’s productivity and efficiency widens and deepens every day. Around us, economic activity continues to weaken, particularly in construction. The call to spend big will soon be irresistible. The needs list is very…
Glen Byrnes, NSW Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia has a Fairfax op-ed out on the Fire Services Levy that has me seething. You will be too when you understand the filthy game he is playing. Victoria’s Fire…
The Victorian Government wants to, needs to, spend billions on Melbourne transport to catch up with the city’s explosive growth. As John Legge kindly points out in a must-read at The Age: “The affluent have crossed the Yarra and now…
. . . … Madam Speaker, if the Government is to balance the Budget in these difficult times, it cannot afford to indulge in forms of taxation that shrink the economy from which all public revenue is drawn. In some…
“This reform means Victorians have a new building tax while the value of our fire service boosts the price of land."
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…
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…
Letter to the Editor The Age 24/07/2012 Using the uplift in private land values to fund infrastructure projects (Doncaster railway line ‘could be built for $840m) is one of the recommendations of the Ken Henry review of taxes that was…
In his second budget, Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells is aiming for a surplus of $155 million, of which $109 million is due to increased fines. The Government has budgeted for $662.5 million in total fines, including $306 million from road-safety…
photo credit: Peter Blanchard The failure of both sides of politics to understand the role of effective public finance is undermining Australia’s future. Stamp duties in Victoria are plummeting, undermining the Baillieu government’s determination to deliver a budget surplus or…