Yeah, the ALP can’t win that one.
When they do it, it’s corruption.
When the Liberals do it, it’s consulting. Just business.
While I agree that some Planning Ministers have done some strange things, and Matthew Guy looked crooked in his deal on Phillip Island, it is a really difficult area where there is lots of money at stake and in most cases the Planning role often clashes with community expectations, economic development and common-sense.
They used to say that in Federal Politics, that if you were given the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio, then the PM must hate you. I reckon in State Politics it is the Planning Ministry. Doesn’t matter how much good you do, one dodgy looking Planning matter and your life is ruined. Justin Madden, Seagull Guy and now Dickie Wynn, all look like dills.
Most of it is about how strong you are politically and if you can stand up to the Cabinet and Premier, the talent of the people around you and your own character.
1 Like
100% correct. There’s bipartisan support for the state planning framework and the philosophies that underpin it because both parties have tinkered with it when they’ve been in power but made few substantive changes.
However, when the rubber hits the road and a government is confronted with localised opposition to development which conforms with their planning framework, it’s political lotto whether the government will buckle or cave in to support.
That can leave the planning minister looking like an idiot before and after the decision regardless of the outcome as his political opponents and sometimes his colleagues have an open crack at them or leak against them.
For a start, political donations from all developers have got to be banned.
2 Likes
Define a developer.
“A property developer is a corporation engaged in a business (or a person who is a close associate of such a corporation) that regularly involves the making of relevant planning applications by or on behalf of the corporation in connection with the residential or commercial development of land with the ultimate purpose of the sale or lease of the land for profit.”
NSW have banned donations from property developers since 2009, and those laws have been tested in the High Court. Queensland just introduced similar legislation too.
9 Likes
The LIEberals BUSTED, … again …
Labor pounces on Scott Morrison’s negative gearing ‘lie’ after release of secret briefing documents
Exclusive by political reporter Dan Conifer and FOI editor Michael McKinnon
5-7 minutes
Updated about 4 hours agoMon 8 Jan 2018, 11:41am
Federal Labor’s negative gearing overhaul would likely have a “small” impact on home values, official documents reveal, contradicting Government claims the policy would “smash” Australia’s housing market.
The previously confidential advice to Treasurer Scott Morrison from his own department said the Opposition’s plan might cause “some downward pressure” and could have “a relatively modest downward impact” on prices.
What they said about Labor’s negative gearing policy
"It is the most ill-conceived, potentially destructive policy ever proposed by any opposition." Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, February 24, 2016
"The Labor Party have just gone out there with a growth destroying, home price destroying … set of tax measures." Treasurer Scott Morrison, March 3, 2016
"Those opposite want to take a chainsaw to the housing market … Those opposite want to go into the housing market and hack away with an axe." Treasurer Scott Morrison, May 10, 2017
The ALP’s plan to restrict the tax deduction, along with halving the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, was a major issue during the 2016 election campaign.
Coalition figures have variously claimed the plan would attack the housing market with a “chainsaw”, “axe” or “sledgehammer”, and would bring Australia’s economy to a “shuddering halt”.
But after winning a two-year legal fight, the ABC can reveal Treasury officials in early 2016 gave very different advice to Mr Morrison.
“The ALP policies could introduce some downward pressure on property prices in the short term, particularly if the commencement of the policy coincides with a weaker housing market,” they wrote.
"In the long term, increases in taxation on rental property could have a relatively modest downward impact on property prices."
Many of Australia’s two million property investors make a loss, and negative gearing allows them to use the losses to reduce their overall tax bill.
The capital gains tax discount generally sees half the profits from the sale of an investment property go untaxed.
’Overall, price changes are likely to be small’
In the documents, released under Freedom of Information laws, Treasury gives several reasons why prices would not plummet.
With Labor also proposing to raise taxes on other assets, officials said "households may increase their investment in owner-occupied housing [where profits are not taxed].
"This would tend to counter any downward pressure on prices arising out of the rental market."
Changes to negative gearing in the 1980s, and the introduction of the CGT discount in the 1990s, had “little discernible impact on the market”, officials noted.
"Overall, price changes are likely to be small, though the composition of ownership may shift away from domestic investors."
The department warned the price impact would be greatest if “uncertainty arising from the policy change itself” compounded any housing market “downturn that may be underway at the time”.
Treasurer was aware claims were a lie: Bowen
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the document showed the Government had lied to the public.
“The most important thing about these documents is it goes to Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull’s character,” Mr Bowen told AM.
"They knew they were just engaging in a political smear and scare campaign, they knew it wasn’t backed by the facts … during an entire election campaign.
“All these claims were a lie, and Treasury analysis showed that, and the Treasurer was aware of it.”
“Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison have some very serious explaining to do.”
Despite Treasury’s private opinion being revealed, the Government continues to maintain its opponent’s policies would be “disastrous”.
“Treasury’s advice confirms what we have been saying all along — that if you increase capital gains tax by 50 per cent, if you remove negative gearing, it would have a disastrous impact when combined with weakness in the housing market,” acting Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer said.
"What on earth does [Labor leader] Bill Shorten think slashing house prices would do by such a significant amount at this point in the cycle? What would it do to confidence, consumer spending, growth and employment?
"You shouldn’t smash an ant with a brick; you need to be much much more careful in the way that you do this."
Ms O’Dwyer is the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services and a member of Cabinet’s economic team, the Expenditure Review Committee.
She avoided directly answering when asked if Australia was experiencing a weak housing market, or whether the Government had further advice showing more severe impacts to the market.
The Commonwealth’s independent FOI watchdog, the Australian Information Commissioner, last month ordered Treasury release the documents, after its initial refusal in June 2016.
The Grattan Institute, an independent think-tank, has previously estimated that halving the capital gains discount, and phasing out negative gearing after a decade, would reduce house prices by 2 per cent.
Topics: housing, government-and-politics, housing-industry, industry, business-economics-and-finance, australia
First posted earlier today at 12:29amMon 8 Jan 2018, 12:29am
Contact Dan Conifer
The old quintuple-cross, eh?
Bit of a long bow for mine but I like where your head’s at.
I don’t think you understand. It’s not about reducing the burden on the public revenue by preventing revenue leaking to already wealthy people. It’s about stopping those damn bludgers and sick people from taking the revenue.
2 Likes
Oh, and those grubby little shitz trying to mooch money away by getting an education. We all know they’re just going to bomb out and smoke ice pipes. Another reason to defund health programs.
1 Like
So are we going to rename the gst to a gsp now? Does a tax return become a price return? Polishing a turd doesn’t change the fact that its a turd.
The “fools” celebrating is probably because they delivered on an election promise and a key plank that got them into power. As opposed to duping the Australian people with a lie.
Let’s see if Labour is prepared to go with it as policy this time.
Finally the chart fails to show temperature. Where is the metric showing the temperature rise as a result?
It’s up your ■■■■, just look to your far right.
1 Like
Mr Wolf, even a very clever person like you should know that carbon emissions effect a change in climate, as distinct from temperatures rising and falling which are a part of climate.
If this graph is true, then it clearly shows that during the period of a “tax” on carbon there were less greenhouse emissions, which can only be good, so what the Fark are you complaining about?
1 Like
Bring back lead petrol.
the Irukandji jellyfish (the ones that can kill you) are now as far south as the Sunshine Coast.
the paid shills (masking as marine biologists) say it’s due to warming ocean temps
the jellyfish are just on holiday
1 Like
And the extraordinary kelp forests I didn’t see while diving up on the Freycinet are now extraordinary for their magical disappearing trick
At least southerners will soon be able to catch a Coral Trout
2 Likes
That is a shame.
awkward pause
Soooooo…can we mine it now?
Government is trying to change whistleblower laws to make it a 20 year offence. You’d get less time for killing a corrupt official than reporting on one. Yep, this seems fine… We need someone else in charge.
1 Like