We are an apathetic bunch who would rather watch sport than talk
politics. We would rather have a barbie than a bi-election. We would
rather go to the beach than the polling booth. But push us too far and
bear the consequences, as Campbell Newman found out this evening and as
Dennis Napthine found out a few weeks ago.
I am 57 years old (same as Tony) and I have always had a passing
interest in politics but, until Tony Abbott became LOTO, I was never
passionate about it. He changed all that. Tony made me realise that I
had to get off my bum and do something to help protect my country from
the pillage and plunder that he is proposing.
I am just a middle aged woman in jammies but I cannot sit back and
watch my country sold off to the highest bidder. In fact it isn’t even
the highest bidder who necessarily gets the nod.
Tony Abbott views our assets as his to distribute to his mates as he
pleases. He gives jobs to friends like Christmas presents like offering
his close personal friend, The Australian newspaper’s Greg Sheridan,
the plum posting of high commissioner to Singapore after the 2013
election despite him having no qualifications or experience to recommend
him for the job.
And that same attitude was shown by Campbell Newman who so incensed
the people of Queensland that they reversed the biggest election win in
the history of the country to say piss off….enough is enough.
It is now up to every one of us to stand up to protect the country we
love, to protect our children’s future, to protect the way of life our
parents fought hard to provide for us. We can no longer trust
politicians (if we ever could) to do what is in our best interests. We
have to tell them no, you may not do this. Our common wealth is not
yours to dispose of as you please.
To the people of Victoria, and even more so, to you amazing
Queenslanders who delivered a result no-one expected, I say thank you.
You have stood up in the first line of defence to stop the
corporatization of our nation. You have slapped down those who think
wealth and power gives them the right to dictate to us, to wring
whatever profit they can from us with no thought to the consequences of
their greed. I can only hope that the people of NSW show the same
courage and determination to stop Mike Baird from destroying our
farmland and water and gifting our public land to developers.
And to Tony Abbott, I look forward to your address to the National Press Gallery on Monday with gleeful anticipation.
Dear friends, I just created a campaign: ENSURING AUSTRALIANS WELL BEING.
It would mean a lot to me if you took a moment to add your name in
support of this issue because AUSTRALIANS WILL ONLY BE SAFE ONCE WE HAVE
VOTED OUT THE LNP TO WANDER IN THE DESERT OF POLITICAL OBLIVION..
http://www.communityrun.org/…/ensuring-australians-well-bei…
After you've signed the petition please also take a moment to share it
with others. It's super easy: post it on facebook, tweet about it, or
you could simply forward this email onto your friends and family.
Real change happens when everyday people like you and I come together
and stand up for what we believe in. Together we can reach many people
and create change around this important issue. Thank you, WINSTON CLOSE.
Queensland likely next
premier, after Campbell Newman loses his seat, Jeff Seeney, produces a
rare moment of honesty during the previous Bligh Government SCAM WARNING! In releasing the LNP’s
election costings Campbell Newman has finally exposed the fact that his
plan to sell Queensland's assets is a scam with little to do with
reducing general Government debt.
Like many scams, it’s been cleverly constructed to make it appear
like a genuine scheme. Bear with me while I unravel it for you.
Basically, there are two completely separate areas of government debt. One is borne by general government. The other is borne by government-owned corporations (GOCs).
The general government debt is the one which the annual state budget has to deal with. I’ll return to this in a few paragraphs.
Queensland currently has 12 Government owned Corporations (GOCs)
which have projected debt of $19.8 billion as at 30 June 2012,
representing an estimated 32% of total State debt.'
'... entities utilise debt financing as a source of funds for
capital investment and to maintain an optimum capital structure” and the
entities “are required to take a prudent and sound approach to the
management of debt…'
In other words, it makes sense for these government businesses (most
of which are corporations operating under the regulations of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission) to borrow money and use debt as a sensible economic option.
Moreover, these GOCs have to convince ratings agencies that their debt truly is self-sustaining.
The audit reported:
'Usually, the financing of net capital expenditure in the Public
Non-financial Corporations sector, whether by operating revenue or
borrowings should not be of concern, as the corporations in this sector
are required to operate under commercial criteria.'
So, crucially for the argument, their debt cannot viewed as excessive.
It is, therefore, the general government debt which becomes important in terms of this scam.
The Commission made it very clear in its report that the debt it was concerned about came from general government.
It reported:
'The deterioration of Queensland’s debt position since 2005-06
was the result of a substantial increase in General Government net
capital expenditure at the same time that the operating balance went
into deficit.'
I could not find a figure for general government debt in the report despite checking all 243 references to 'general government' therein, however the Newman Government’s budget paper number 2 for 2013/14 says the general government debt at June 30 2012 was $29.513 billion.
Nowhere in the report does the Commission explain how it arrived at a
figure for gross debt of $64 billion, bearing in mind the debts of
$19.8 billion from the GOCs and $29.513 billion from general government.
Despite this massive discrepancy, the report said it was the general government debt which needed to be reduced.
Here’s another reference [IA emphasis]:
'The General Government sector share of Total Government
sector gross capital expenditure has increased from 41% in 2005-06 to
62% in 2010-11. To the extent that this expenditure
has been funded from borrowings rather than operating surpluses, this
has contributed to the rapid build-up of government debt.'
The Newman Government said this was why it needed to sell assets.
Its Strong Choices propaganda campaign was based on this premise:
'The Independent Queensland Commission of Audit recommended that
the Government evaluate the State’s ownership of a number of assets as
part of a comprehensive debt reduction strategy.'
But of the $37 billion the LNP is hoping to raise from privatising
our assets, only $7 billion is being devoted to solving the alleged
problem of general government debt.
'Of the $37 billion the government "conservatively" hopes to
raise, $25 billion would be set aside for debt pay down, $7 billion of
which would be used for general government debt, with the rest to go on
debt owned by the government-owned corporations.'
We have been conned. It is plainly a scam.
Why would the LNP want to put $18 billion into government-owned corporations that don’t need it?
One reason: to use the money from the privatisation of one company to
make the others more saleable and build a bigger war chest to fight the
next election.
For the last two weeks I have worked on the pre-poll booth for the
Labor party. It has been very, very hot here in Rockhampton and some
days we have had huge storms where we battled with HTV cards, signage
and just plain finding some shelter. As someone who never tans, I have
tan lines on my feet where my shoes go and my face is a few shades
lighter than Ronald McDonald’s hair. Rain, hail, shine, it all has been
worth every single second of it.
A few days ago, I stood in the pouring rain holding a sign that
warned about the sale of our Electricity Assets. I remember standing
there thinking:
“People will either think I am crazy standing in
this rain, or think I’m taking this very seriously, it must mean so
much to me.”
I then thought, ‘Well, maybe I am a bit crazy, but this does
mean a lot to me.” Sometimes when I think what it means to get rid of
Campbell Newman and LNP out of Queensland; I am overwhelmed to tears.
This has not been a small difference in ideology or the way we govern.
This has been an absolute onslaught on every single sector of
Queensland, from massive cuts to public services, gutting of community
services, to the non-existence of jobs and training opportunities for
young people, to the highest unemployment in eleven years, to turfing
old people out of Nursing homes for a quick buck, to the destruction of
our workplace health and safety protections, to the removal of civil
rights for anyone who has tattoos or rides a motorbike, to the absolute
arrogance and nepotism and sheer dodgy practices of pushing through
legislation and debacles with our committee system and the disrespect to
our legal professionals. The LNP are a of depression, you simply
cannot get away from. I have had very serious depression in the past
and I do not say this lightly.
One thing I have noticed, when listening to the mantra of the LNP and
LNP supporter conversations on social media and the voices of the
volunteers at the booth; is that the one thing the care about is debt.
If they have any debt, it is ‘unconscionable’ to spend any money on the
people. This is an absolutely load of ideological neo-liberalist
nonsense. What separates LNP from Labor and some of the other
social-left parties, is that parties from the left focus on the people
first and foremost. They focus on the development of the state and
realise that sometimes you need to spend money, to create more revenue,
or to simply adhere to the Government’s absolute responsibility of
providing adequate essential services to Queenslanders, regardless of
any debt.
I mean, if the LNP had a grandmother on life
support, they would weigh up the cost between letting her go on, or what
they would save by pulling the plug. The plug would win out every time.
This brings me to the main argument on Asset Sales. What everyone
needs to be clear about is that a Government who cannot fund any
promises without selling assets after three years of austerity and
massive reductions in funding and the sacking of 24,000 public service
staff and the selling of billions of dollars in assets already “to save
money” is a poor Government indeed. If through all this pain they cannot
even in good faith provide adequate services without whingeing about
very manageable debt; it has all been for nothing, as they have achieved
nothing and stand for nothing.
We know both sides of politics have sold assets, but for many
reasons. The LNP’s promises all rely on the sale of our electricity
and other assets. There are assets that do mean a lot to be sold. They
affect workers and the guarantee of security of proper services for the
public, but not all assets are an essential service. It is vitally
important we keep our electricity assets. Electricity is an essential
service. We cannot live a normal life without it. The prices in QLD are
already incredibly high and with privatization, it will be simply
unaffordable for so many. Many elderly people now do not use the air
conditioning in sweltering heat and often sit in the dark as they simply
cannot afford electricity. My mind turns to people like my Mother who
died of COPD and was on oxygen 24 hours per day. With no guarantee of
emergency re-connections in blackouts, this could result in disaster and
death for some disabled people.
Clive Palmer is stating that they already have a Chinese buyer. Clive
was a member of the LNP, and would still be aware of a lot of goings
on. I don’t vote for Clive, but I do believe him on this one. We will
have no guarantee of service, no guarantee of timely re-connections and
no guarantee of the same highly trained professionals doing the very
risky work they do. This is all on top of the massive loss of jobs that
will occur in areas like Townsville, Rockhampton and Brisbane. Ergon
is a major employer for regional QLD. Tony Abbott’s free reign on 457
visa’s will allow a full replacement of local workers with overseas
workers. This will affect small business and place a lot of pressure on
families. This will only worsen the economy and debt. Not make it
better.
This takes me back to ‘crazy me’ standing in the rain, holding a sign
warning against the sale of our electricity assets. The LNP’s only
argument is that ‘there is a debt.’ They do not mention that this is a
moderate and manageable debt, but hey, this type of scaremongering
worked for Abbott for three years. If I am passionate enough, as a
volunteer to give up my time, to stand there getting the message out
that Queensland is not for sale, then what have the LNP got?
If the LNP is so passionate about the sale of Assets being
the very best thing for Queenslanders, why do they not have mobs of
volunteers holding up signage begging people to approve the Asset Sales?
If this does not show this is in the self – serving interest of the
party only and their wealthy friends, and it means nothing to benefit
the people, nothing else will. We have hundreds of volunteer Not for
Sale people getting up and out every morning on every corner in so many
towns fighting to save our assets. This is not political, it is a
protest from the heart of people who are passionate about keeping our
lifestyle and the security and assurance of a Government owning up to
their responsibility of providing a high quality and affordable
electricity service to every single Queensland. It is the responsibility
of the Government to provide absolute certainty for electricity
services.
To save our assets number every square and put LNP last.
Finally, your vote tomorrow is absolutely critical. This vote will
not only endorse Newman’s harsh, unforgiving, relentless, abhorrent and
shameful approach, but it also will endorse Tony Abbott’s agenda to push
more austerity and hardship onto Australians. Abbott is so
unpopular, he has been absent completely from the entire Queensland
election campaign. It is almost as if Queensland does not exist to Tony
Abbott. A vote for Campbell Newman, only endorses every single thing
Tony Abbott does and will do. A vote for Campbell Newman will make Tony
Abbott even more confident and enthusiastic to implement even more
harsh measures, as he will feel ‘popular enough to get away with it.’
Your vote in the Queensland Election on 31 January, 2015, will change our lives. Please make it for the better.
*I also want to use this post to dedicate my heartfelt
thanks to the Not4Sale teams and volunteers throughout Queensland who
have worked so hard to speak up and protest against the sale of our
Assets. You guys are bloody champions!
*Originally published on https://polyfeministix.wordpress.com/
The Liberal Party has no-one else to blame but themselves for
their current woes. When they allowed the climate change deniers to
stage a coup and install their puppet as leader they set themselves up
for this fall.
Tony is a populist ideologue which is a contradiction within itself.
He is a self-described weathervane, changing his views with the
prevailing wind of the polls, intermingled with bizarre captain’s calls,
a confused allegiance to a Church he lambasted when one of its own, an
anachronistic devotion to the monarchy, and a sycophantic need to
please.
As Laurie Oakes said, Tony has had more positions on climate change and an ETS than the Karma Sutra.
He has also done a complete turnaround on federal/state relationships. In his book Battlelines he said
“…the only way to sort out responsibilities in areas where the two
levels of government are both involved is to put one level of government
in overall charge.”
By “one level of government”, Abbott was explicit that he meant the Commonwealth.
Only a few years on and Tony changed his mind saying there should be
“much more local control of schools and hospitals” and much less
“federal interference with the way state bureaucracies run schools and
hospitals”.
And then there is Tony’s signature Paid Parental Leave policy. In 2002, he told a Liberal Party function in Victoria:
“Compulsory paid maternity leave? Over this Government’s dead body, frankly.”
When it became apparent that Tony was very unpopular with women, he,
with no consultation or modelling or costing, went in the total opposite
direction by announcing the most generous PPL in the world.
Workchoices
is supposedly “dead, buried and cremated” but the Productivity
Commission has been instructed to review minimum wage, penalty rates,
unfair dismissal laws, enterprise bargaining and individual contracts.
Reg will now be known as Loretta.
How is anyone to understand what Tony Abbott stands for when it appears his words mean nothing?
“I want to give people this absolute assurance, no cuts to education,
no cuts to health, no changes to pensions and no changes to the GST.”
And on September 6, 2013, the day before the 2013 Federal Election,
Tony Abbott again ruled out any changes to the GST while speaking to Neil Mitchell on 3AW:
NEIL MITCHELL: So what are the no-go zones?
TONY ABBOTT: Well, if you can be more efficient,
obviously you should be more efficient. There’s no point preserving
inefficiency if efficiency is possible. What we aren’t going to do is
we’re not going to cut health spending, we’re not going to cut education
spending. We’re not going to reduce pensions, we’re not going to change
the GST – all of the scares that Kevin Rudd has been hyperventilating
over, over the last few weeks is simple nonsense.
It is apparent that Tony has no problem lying to get what he wants.
Perhaps this stems from his parents shielding him from the consequences
of his actions by employing senior legal teams to get Tony off several
youthful misdemeanors whilst encouraging his dreams of grandeur.
When asked today about the vastly higher popularity of Malcolm
Turnbull and Julie Bishop as preferred leader, Tony said “One of the
reasons why so many members of the team are able to perform so well is
because they have got a very good captain.”
You may be a good head-kicker Tony but you haven’t got a clue what it takes to be a captain.
Queensland politicians: doing it tough... A new study by Paul Egan, Philip Soos and Lindsay David
reveals the 89 members of Queensland's legislative assembly have stake
in a total of 195 properties, valued at around $91 million — so how does
that affect their decision making?
Introduction
Following our analysis of Federal and Victorian Parliamentarians’
real estate holdings, attention turns to Queensland, where Premier
Campbell Newman has called a snap early election for 31st January, 2015.
Australia, including Queensland, is facing a chronic housing
affordability crisis. Housing price inflation has outstripped both rents
and household incomes since 1996, leading to a residential property
market that is unaffordable by both historic and international
comparison. Queensland’s elected representatives, like their federal,
state and territory counterparts have failed to address the root causes
of the crisis. Policies appear purposefully designed to encourage
speculation and rapid price appreciation, in spite of the skyrocketing
household debt burden and the harsh economic impacts of expensive land.
The public should critically consider whether state politicians’
property holdings are negatively influencing their decision-making
processes and causing them to ignore impartial evidence when formulating
housing and state taxation policies. The parliamentary register of
members’ interests provides a detailed report of the real estate
holdings of Queensland state politicians; a small window into the
potential conflicts of interest bedevilling our honourable members.
Real estate assets are often jointly owned with a spouse instead of
being in the sole ownership of the registered member. Properties can
form part of a family or business trust, or private superannuation fund,
with control over these entities exerted by either the beneficiary or
beneficiaries directly, or via a third party. Similarly, a politician
may have a minority, equal or majority share of the property asset
within established entities.
Analysis
Queensland parliamentarians are heavily invested in the property
game. The 89 members of Australia’s only unicameral legislative assembly
have stake in a total of 195 properties — an average of 2.2 properties
per member, conservatively valued at around $91 million, calculated by
multiplying the Brisbane median residential dwelling price of $466,500
(as at December 2014) by 195 properties.1
The actual value is probably significantly higher, for the Queensland
register allows for fine-grained analysis of the total lot size (m2)
for each politician, separated into the categories of residential,
investment and farm/commercial/vacant/other properties (see Appendix B).
As hypothesised in previous reports, politicians:
generally have a principal place of residence on a large lot relative to the public average (often exceeding 1,000m2 in size) — nine Queensland parliamentarians live on a property exceeding 10,000m2;
have substantial commercial, retail and industrial property interests;
purchase a greater number of properties in prestige or premium locations, such as desirable inner-city and coastal areas;
have significant interests in vacant land (some already approved
for large sub-divisions) and large grazing and cane farms — some
individual farm holdings exceed 10,000 hectares (ha) in size
(100,000,000m2);
regularly embed property assets in family and business trusts, and less often, private superannuation funds; and
possess a number of surplus and holiday homes, some in desirable international locations, such as Thailand.
Property investment has again proven to be popular right across the political spectrum.
Queensland’s political class possess a substantial property
portfolio, with only 2 of the 89 members (2%) not owning any real
estate. Only a minority of holdings appear incomplete or mistakenly
undeclared in some register entries, usually for the lot size of
investment properties.
The data demonstrates the majority of politicians have a vested
interest in maintaining high housing and land prices, particularly the
76% of members with one or more mortgages over their own investments. It
would be naïve to assume politicians will put the common good before
their own self-interest, if it means the difference between a moderately
comfortable or a highly secure future retirement, or there are
significant family interests to consider. The risk of a sharp correction
in real estate prices and negative equity are just as real for those
three-quarters of parliamentarians in bondage to lenders, particularly
if they have multiple investments or are highly leveraged.
Queenslanders should be very sceptical about the supposed good
intentions of many of their elected members in addressing housing
affordability. Cynicism is warranted, for nationwide, politicians
regularly enact legislative and regulatory ‘reforms’ in direct
contravention of objective evidence, accelerating price growth and
enriching a multitude of land owners in the process.
Contrary to reason, parliamentarians assume heavy debt burdens and
record-low first home buyers are the new market normal. The urgent
entreaties from a series of Productivity Commission and Senate reports
to reform broken tax systems at the state level have gone unheard, even
though economic efficiencies and greater competitiveness would arise
from a shift of the taxation base onto those appropriating geo-rent (the
economic rent of land) and off labour and business.2
The property-rich Queensland Parliament cannot be trusted to act in
good faith on matters concerning real estate. Aversion to guiding
housing policy with firm evidence has a long history in many
jurisdictions, notably influenced by the projected future value of a
politician’s collective real estate holdings and corrosive lobbying by
the FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) sector. A voter backlash
is also feared following any substantive reforms that reduce prices,
with large pockets of the citizenry having also gone ‘all in’ on
enormous property bets.
State and federal parliamentarians’ indifference to sound housing
policy suggests an unrepresentative parliament is consciously ignoring
the profound and negative outcomes of declining affordability upon
social justice and economic efficiency. A two-decade long blind-spot is
only possible if successive administrations have consistently
disregarded empirical evidence and sound research in favour of lobby
groups, populist measures and their own real estate portfolios.
Brisbane’s housing prices surged by 134% between the trough in 2000
and apparent peak in 2010. Prices softened after 2010, but rebounded
slightly from 2013 onwards. As of 2014, prices are 6% below the peak set
in 2010.3
Total Queensland land prices have similarly ballooned, with the
prices to Gross State Product (GSP) ratio climbing from 141 to 304%
between 2001 and 2010, a relative increase of 116%. While Queensland
does not have the most inflated prices nationwide (which is Victoria),
prices have still reached lofty heights, principally from a sharp rise
in residential prices, rather than commercial, rural or other categories
of land. The ratio has since fallen to 235% as of 2014, though still
far above the long-run average.
Real housing prices have risen substantially in every Australian
capital, though Brisbane is in the middle of the pack when considering
the size of the increase.
Debt-financed speculation has divorced skyrocketing land prices from
technical fundamentals, such as rents and household incomes. As a
result, gross yields have been compacted to 4.4 and 5.5% for houses and
units respectively as of December 2014.4 Net yields are
around half of gross yields, reinforcing claims that Brisbane’s property
investment model is strongly predicated on potential future capital
gains instead of sound cash flows.
The long-term trend in the price to income ratio demonstrates a
median-priced Brisbane dwelling could be purchased for around four times
household income until the early 2000s, but has since risen by 50% to
around six times in 2010.
Recommendations
A range of matters influencing housing affordability are outside the
remit of Queensland parliamentarians, for instance, population growth,
broad economic settings and the provision of finance. Nevertheless,
state and territory governments are not powerless, wielding control over
an array of policy areas that can help prevent rapid price inflation
and reduce land prices.
What practical measures can Queensland politicians take to improve housing affordability?
Recommendation #1: More efficient use of the State Land Tax (SLT)
The SLT is an ideal tool to moderate both land price bubbles and
their subsequent devastating busts, and is already in the toolkit of
state and territory governments. Unfortunately, this tax has been
rendered comatose by a host of exemptions and concessional treatments.
The SLT requires broadening to include owner-occupied housing and
agricultural land, calculated on a per-square-metre value basis. The
narrow existing base and progressivity of the SLT incurs only a small
deadweight loss; the complete removal of exemptions and concessions
would reduce this deadweight loss to zero. The SLT should apply per land
holding, but not on an entity’s total holdings to encourage
development.
Recommendation #2: Changes to municipal rates calculations
Queensland local government rates correctly using site value (SV)
rating, which taxes the underlying land only. However, they are to be
condemned for the widespread use of minimum rates which provides a
direct subsidy to those owning more valuable sites. Ratepayers should be
outraged by this wealth transfer — an impost on their capital values as
well as annual charges.
Recommendation #3: Abolition of Stamp Duty tax
Conveyencing stamp duties should be removed, with the revenue shortfall met from an improved SLT.
Recommendation #4: Removal of the first home owners grant and boost
All housing grants act as a demand-side stimulus that further erodes
affordability. When combined with highly-leveraged mortgage loans, the
result is rapid price inflation that substantially outstrips the size of
the grant. These grants are a gift to vendors, not FHBs.
Recommendation #5: Greater investment in public housing
A substantial increase in funding for public housing would assist
long-term, low-income individuals and families reliant on social welfare
to exit the private rental market, ameliorating their financial stress.
We have an obligation to look after those who have difficulty managing
their affairs.
Recommendation #6: Tenancy law reform
Australian tenancy laws should adopt the higher standards enjoyed by
other Western nations. Queensland tenants’ limited rights include less
stability and security in tenure due to shorter lease terms (6 to 12
months on average), lower rental vacancy rates favouring landlords
during contractual negotiations, termination of leases for no reason,
and requisite landlord permission for minor alterations and pet
ownership.6
Recommendation #7: The adoption of ‘right to build’ laws
This policy encourages timely development of residential and
commercial property. Planning delays and uncertainties may raise land
costs, thus, this effect is negated by a right (positive presumption)
for developers and home builders to undertake activity, within specified
local and state government guidelines. If a development is opposed,
then the onus is upon the aggrieved party to take the developer to the
civil tribunal to prevent construction.
Recommendation #8: Elimination of state/local government infrastructure charges and levies
Government should reverse their preference for imposing direct
charges on developers to finance local infrastructure, resulting in
lower land costs. Governments can either adopt the Texan Municipal
Utility District (MUD) model or return to the original system of issuing
municipal bonds to finance local infrastructure and paying down debts
through council rates.
Recommendation #9: Streamlining of zoning processes
Land subdivision and zoning vacant land for residential use in
capital cities takes too long, generating considerable costs,
uncertainty and reducing developer competition. Comprehensive betterment
taxes should be applied to agricultural land that is rezoned for
commercial and residential purposes.
Recommendation #10: Removal of most urban growth boundaries (UGBs)
Except for ecologically or culturally sensitive regions of land,
there is no sound rationale for UGBs, as only a tiny fraction of
Queensland’s land mass is urbanised. Building further out on the fringe
may lower housing costs, but this may be more than offset by the rise in
transport costs.
Conclusions
A wide range of practical policies are available to policymakers to
lower housing and land costs, improving the lives of all Queenslanders.
Sadly, the aforementioned recommendations are not in the financial
interests of the political class and their ultimate constituents:
concentrations of capital, especially the FIRE sector. The sizeable
percentage of Queenslanders living as public (3%) and private tenants
(33%) are generally treated with contempt.7
State governments have squandered the opportunity to independently
pursue constructive, competitive federalism by simultaneously increasing
land value taxes and reducing inefficient, damaging payroll, insurance,
motor vehicle and stamp duty taxes. Similarly, councils were able to
lower construction costs by financing infrastructure through municipal
rates rather than developer charges, but chose not to do so.
Poor government decisions are attributable to the FIRE sector’s
deleterious effect on democratic processes, a stacked parliamentary
deck, and extensive lobbying and soft corruption that undermines the
public good. The political parties and rentier class have an unspoken
accord to preserve privilege for the rich and to further redistribute
wealth and income upwards in a ‘flood up’ effect. The degenerate state
of contemporary politics means voters generally do not understand the
rampant inefficiencies wrought by the FIRE sector.
Substantive reforms are not certain even if politicians were aware of
the economic harm unfolding, because they lack courage to confront the
powerful FIRE sector. The stranglehold over democratic processes
virtually guarantees maintenance of the status quo, unless a fresh
reform movement challenges unjustified privilege. Honest public
discourse, genuine taxation reform, decentralisation of political power
and a complete reconstruction of the FIRE sector is essential to
Queensland moving to a more efficient, productive and meaningful economy
that serves the common interest.
This is the complete version of an abridged article by the authors published by Fairfax Media earlier today.
Endnotes
1 RP Data (2015). See Appendix A for each individual Parliamentarian’s holdings.
2 PC (2004); Senate (2008).
3 The ABS measure of housing prices is not quality-adjusted, so the index overstates the trend.
4 RP Data (2015).
5 Fox and Finlay (2012: 18 – Graph 4).
6 Kelly (2013).
7 HPW (2013: 4).
References
Fox, Ryan and Richard Finlay. (2012). 'Dwelling Prices and
Household Income', Bulletin December Quarter, Reserve Bank of Australia,
Sydney.
HPW. (2013). 'Housing 2020 Strategy', Department of Housing and Public Works, Queensland Government, Brisbane.
Kelly, Jane-Frances. (2013). 'Renovating housing policy', Grattan Institute, Melbourne.
PC. (2004). 'First Home Ownership', Productivity Commission, Melbourne.
