The Labor Goverment should be ashamed! This tax is an attack on hard-working families from a government that has lost the plot and can't see past the cash grab. They are ruining lives at any cost. Bring on the election!
I still haven't got a reasonable answer to the question of why people/companies who on sell land after buying it from the original land owner (who has payed the tax) don't pay any tax at all. Onselling has happened at least 2/3 times on some properties in mt area epping North). What are your thoughts?
Hi Bruce,
On-selling has also happened in the Beveridge area. Under the Government's GAIC proposal the poor sucker who sells first for the lowest price pays ALL of the tax, while those who manage to on-sell for large profits pay nothing. This proposal is grossly unfair The tax should be paid when the land is actually developed.
we will not be forced off the land even if it takes 2 jobs each of us and the children as well to pay the new rates. We do not want to be urban leave us be >> please
I don’t know where to start with this. I'm so upset at the way this Government treats people, it’s not just the Tax, but if you look at everything they do you wonder how on earth these ignorant morons can be in power.
In my case I have only 1.65 acres. (as do many others in my area).
It’s taken my 28 years to finally pay off my house.
As with many people in my situation, I made many sacrifices to reach this point in my life and it didn’t come easy.
My house is situated in the middle of the block. I really can’t subdivide without tearing the house down.
After 28 years and many renovation hours, I would sooner die than see the house torn down.
My land will never by subdivide, yet my Rates have doubled since the government declared it a growth area.
I have 2 disabled children, if I die and leave them the house, they would be hit for the tax.
The government is so indiscriminate that it’s criminal.
Madden said the tax is for services, I’ve gone 28 years without services so I don’t need them now. (i.e. no water, gas sewage etc). I’ve spent thousands on water tanks a self contained sewerage system. Will they compensate me for these?
Some morons from the Urban Land Authority came around the other day.
They looked at our place and said it would be a good place for a Park because it has native grasses and trees on it. They were saying to clear the house and make it a park
I couldn’t believe what they were saying, because across the road from my place there are already 2 football fields and a National Park !
Hi Sam,
On 17th June, Madden announced that your principal place of residence and up to 2 hectares (5 acres) will be exempt from the GAIC, so you should be OK as far as the tax goes. You will still be hit by increased council rates however. For more information on latest announcements and exemptions click on the GAIC: THE REAL FACTS tab and go to the bottom of the screen and click on "Latest Taxed Out GAIC fact sheet".
We have been on the land for 30 years and will not be able to afford the rates if the land is rezoned. And selling to move onwill not be an option as the government then makes their grab for the tax. Pension here we come -
I would like to thank the TAXEDOUT commitees for bringing our plight to those that do not wish to listen to individuals -Growth Authority & Labour simply send out their propergander!!!
Since being in the UGB in 2005- our rates have jumped from $3,000 to $20,000 then to $46,000 this year.DON"T expect any joy from your local council as they reap the benefits - they also are most unsympathetic on the problems of individuals -their comment is similar to the GAIC "but the value of your land is increased so you must pay the increased rates" I hate to think what our rates would be if anyone in our area sold for what Madden quotes as that is what the valuer uses as a guide.
It is a no win situation for the owner of the land at present---KEEP UP THE FIGHT & GOOD LUCK - Val
Please change on your website the heading "fighting for a fairer GAIC" as there is no such thing as a fair GAIC it should be "NO GAIC"
The GAIC should only be paid by the developer of the land.
Your leaflet handed out by your hardworking reps at the Bulla Meeting raised several relevant issues for affected landowners now and in the future. The big question is how are we going to stop the dictators posing as leaders of a democratic society from imposing their unwanted taxes upon us? Their pretence at having discussions with the community is just that - "discussions". They, the current labor government, have no real intentions of carrying out the democratic will of the people and I fear that all those unaffected uninformed labor voting supporters of the government will continue using their vote to keep a non democratic government in power whose members are only interested in extracting as much out of the political system for themselves and their lobbying buddies. I for one believe Justin Madden should be sacked and Mr. Brumby should examine his ideals as a labor leader and ask himself very earnestly if he is a leader of the people for the people.
i agree with byron that madden should be sacked he has a very domineering outlook on raising taxes for the brumby government but is there to serve the people which isnot what is happening
Tax is one funding source.
Government has other funding options.
The India - Pacific rail line was built years ago with credit created by government at no debt cost to the public. A large part of the Snowey Scheme was funded similarly.
Public infrastructure can again be funded by credit created by government.
It takes your public effort to have that accepted and to happen ... and to stop these unfair tax hikes.
Our stste government has become an agent for land developers and the growth industry that makes money and profits from increasing our population. The initial benefits are clear, but it is the people of Victoria who will ultimately pay more for all the infrastructure and facilities. Already our water is at an all time low, but we still get 2000 new consumers every week! We are silenced by the media about "racism" if we criticize our excessive immigration, and student PR numbers. Sustainable growth is an oxymoron, and it is all about money and profits for Brumby's mates.
Something the government has not addressed is the fact developers generally purchase land on terms.
A contract for the sale of land with an extended time frame of say 5-10 years until settlement means the landowner is in a vulnerable position.
Legally a purchaser, entering into a terms contract, can call for a transfer of the title, at any time prior to settlement. A transfer of the title to a non family member will trigger the charge.
This means a landowner maybe in the position where the the GAIC is payable yet 80 - 90% of the purchase price has not been received.
we have a property in the clyde area,
which we have worked hard to pay off.
Being in our sixties, we would like to retire,BUT now we find ourselves
in a very serious state, with brumbys
giac tax and the council rates.
we cannot believe we have this looming
over our head.
SHAME, SHAME, TO THE BRUMBY GOV. TAKE NOTE - YOU WILL NEVER BE ELECTED AGAIN
I have lived on my property for 25 years and paid all my taxes working two jobs and this is our reward from our Victorian leaders.My neighbours and friends have cut up all my ropes into little pieces taking away all my sharp tools and drained my dam.Please AXE THE TAX for me so I live in peace.
BARRY HILL PRESIDENT WHITTLESE
- EXTENTING THE URBAN GROWTH BOUNDRYS
|124.180.155.xxx
|2009-07-22 14:49:38
The Whittlesea Ratepayers Association
recommends that this leglisation be completely thrown out by the Liberals and minor parties in the upper house not ammended as proposed by the Liberals
The Governments own information states that there is enough land within the urban growth boundarys for the next 25 years , and that the major developers are sitting on a $70Billion dollar land bank, and are pushing the Governments Agenda, so I say to all effected, push the Liberals and minor parties to thow out this leglisation completely and for them to put it in writing!
I hope the Greens and the DLP care for elderly people, people who will lose their super, struggling farmers and landowners simply trying to pay a mortgage and raise their kids.
when I first heard of the GAIC Ithought it was a joke. Telling others about it they thought the same. The tax can destroy the financial positon of ordinary people who wont see any great windfall from increase in their rproperty value. This tax demonstrates how unfair the Government can be and should be fought by all, not just those who a directly and/or currently affected.
It seems we'll all have to beg for concessions from the hardship board. It will be a very busy board trying to deal with this unworkable crazy GAIC tax. Brumby say's we are all developers - do we look like developers? I see honest hard working people who have chosen to bring up their kids outside the city, and farmers, some whose family's have been there for 150 years. Labor must go.
How many taxes can Governments load onto our freehold land? Capital Gains Tax, Local Government Tax(Rates), Land Tax, GST, Drainage Tax, Income Tax, Stamp Duty, now GAIC. Its just too much. Anyone in Victoria who owns land will get a version of the GAIC soon. Madden say's we are greedy, we know who's greedy.
Everyone don’t forget that Councils and State Government actually work for us, we pay their salary. Lets demand our politicians and Councillors act in our best interest, not in the best interest of the rich Developers that make political donations in return for “Favours”.
Mr Brumby is acting as arrogantly as Mr Howard was before he got put out of office. Obviously, neither Labor or the Liberals can behave properly when given a clear majority, so lets ensure these parties don’t have a majority again.
Make your vote count at the next State or Council elections!
Michael
- Werribee Banner Article dated 22/7/09 reflects the
|203.44.86.xxx
|2009-08-03 15:50:42
Werribee Banner
Retirement dreams fade
22/07/2009 400 AM
JUNE Dossett was among the many protesters in the city last week. The 76-year-old - barely half the size of Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden - clutched a megaphone and shared her story with the 500-strong crowd.
Ms Dossett lives on a four-hectare property in Tarneit with her 78-year-old husband and has been a vocal contributor to growth area infrastructure tax meetings in Melton and Wyndham. The couple says they want the freedom to sell their property - where they have lived for more than 30 years - and move to a retirement village. But with a property she values at $500,000, a $380,000 contribution tax would leave the couple with just $120,000.
"We're left with nothing," she said. "We feel devastated because we haven't got a future." Ms Dossett said the proposed tax was causing a lot of stress to elderly residents who wanted peace of mind during their retirement. "I think it's unfair. They should be thinking of getting the developers to pay for it. "We've had to live without water and the roads are bad, but we put up with it because we like the area. Now we're threatened with paying for people to live here in the future." Rockbank resident and Taxed Out spokeswoman Nola Dunn said many of her neighbours were nearing retirement and the stress of the tax announcement was affecting their health. "They're panicking. Many are living off superannuation and can't get a pension as their land will now have to be revalued."
Ms Dunn said protesters were still seeking figures from the State Government explaining how it had valued properties in the extended urban growth boundary. "We just want to see the figures." She said the rally was a great success.
"If we can make more people aware of what is happening then more people will realize that this isn't fair."
Shane Worrell
Opinion by Michael at Woodstock.
This GAIC Tax is an absolute disgrace. Any Government should hang its head in shame to be associated with it.
Anybody in Victoria that owns more than five acres needs to stop and take action now over this huge tax. Keep in mind, the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) is a line on a map. It has just been drawn around thousands of people’s properties without consent. Once this Tax tool is passed in Parliament an UGB can be drawn around any city or town centre in Victoria. Do you honestly believe Politicians saying "Oh no! We wouldn't draw one around Ballarat”?
If this poor woman in Tarneit is right in saying her land is worth $500,000 then the GAIC Tax will steal 76% of the value of her life's work and savings.
But, just for one moment, let’s entertain the ridiculous fantasy Premier Brumby and Minister Madden use to justify this theft. Let’s pretend that this massive land area now in this UGB magically doubles in value overnight! An incredible miracle! Mr. Brumby can you please perform this miracle on the Stock Market as well because our Super is shot to hell!
But let’s just pretend, like Minister Madden and Premier Brumby do, this woman's land doubled in value to $1,000,000. The same $380,000 tax represents 38% of her home!
This is not a business loss written off on tax. This is no corporation. This is no developer who passes on the costs onto each and every house block he develops and sells. This is a woman’s personal private property, paid for after tax. She has paid the mortgage, she has paid the rates, she has paid the bills and she has taken all the risks and sacrifices along the way.
This woman has the right to this property and whatever the free market deems it to be worth, without this Government, regardless of the financial situation this Government finds itself in, stealing anywhere between 20% and 80% of its value
I call on Premier Brumby, the Minister for Planning Mr. Madden, and the Growth Area Authority CEO Mr. Seamer to publicly announce that they will “Contribute” 30% of the future sale price of their own private homes to the GAIC Funds to prove how fair they believe this Tax to be.
I propose that anyone that will be victimized by this Tax, if it is forced through Parliament against the will of the people, demand these Public Servants put themselves in our financial position for the good of “Future Communities”. The same justification these men use to introduce this tax applies to their homes. Suburban and seaside property prices have rocketed over the years compared to rural prices. They have enjoyed an incredible “Windfall” in their property values. Many areas have doubled twice in value in ten years. It’s only fair that they “Share the Windfall” by providing the infrastructure for “new communities” just like the infrastructure they have enjoyed over the years
This is an immoral Tax that undermines the basic rights of property ownership in Victoria. I don’t believe for one moment that these three men deeply and honestly believe it to be fair or justifiable. If they claim they do then make the announcement I propose which will prove their conviction.
The current proposal for this GAIC Tax displays the true nature of this Brumby Labor Government. Never in political history in Australia has such unrivalled greed been displayed by a Government, State of Federal.
What level of desperation is driving Premier Brumby and Minister Madden to make such disgusting decisions and plot to steal the life's work and savings of thousands of Victorian families, farmers and small property owners?
Is the State of Victoria so broke under this Government that it will be bankrupt if this new tax is not collected now? Instead of waiting untill the land use changes and those that actually seek to develope the land and therefore collect the lion's share of any uplift in value. At that point in time the tax could be levied fairly at the point of development.
New South Wales does this and they do not need a 'hardship board' for people to beg for mercy. People have the right right to sell their property without giving the proceeds to the State Government. This proposal will shock every property owner in Victoria when the main media exposes the truth.
Jocelyn
Jocelyn, what ever you have stated is true, except the last statement regarding the main stream media. As long as the main stream media is josting for labour government's advertising dollar I cannot see this happening. They would rather cover stories about neighbours being kept awake by bantam roosters (ACA) than investigate and expose government's blatant attempt to tax home owners out of their life's work. Our unelected Premier, and his labour cronies will not stop at Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary, once legislation is passed it will spread throughout Victoria! MUST FIGHT THIS TO THE END! Jack
I have just attended a Rally this morning at TABCORP Park Melton. What a suprise Mr Maddern actually got out of his car and spoke to our congregation he listened to our speeches and then gave his own opinions, if we dont want to be included in the Urban Growth Boundary we should speak to his department or write to them and tell them exactly that.To me it sounded like no matter what we say if we are in the Growth corridor we will pay the TAX. Everybody needs to write to Mr Maddern and keep writing to his department because they want that TAX paid at point of 1st sale and they don't care who they hurt on the way.....
The levying of this tax against the land owner is grossly unfair. By trying to control the real estate market the government is getting into a very risky business. Unless a proportion of this tax (regardless of who pays) gets passed onto Local Government who will ultimately have the responsibility of maintaining new assets/infrastructure we can expect a double rate rise. One when the property values rise and the second when Council realises it doesn't have the funds to maintain all these new asset. Come on Government think this through - clearly you haven't so far
As I grew up in the midst of what was always known as some of Labor heartland territory, I was indoctrinated by my parents to always vote Labor as being the champions of the working class, whatever that meant, All I can see now however is that you bust your ar-- trying to put together a means by which one can retire with some satisfaction in the knowledge that hard work and sacrifice will eventually bring its own
rewards.And now on the eve of our claiming our just deserts, along comes the working class champions dedicated to robbing our honey pot of our years of toil.
My parents would turn in their grave to know that their misguided advice would lead to this betrayal of the working class by their own kind .
Adriana
Mary-Rose
- Hasn't it always been "User Pays" for everything e
|203.44.86.xxx
|2009-08-11 15:51:29
Sure there are some land-owners that are set to make substantial gains on the sale of their property and why shouldn’t they? We all sit on properties that appreciate over the years. I am sure that Madden's property has risen in price over the years and when he sells, he will want and expect to make a profit. No one wants to make a loss. He will not be expected to pay an exit tax when he sells. This is what this tax is. Stamp Duties when we purchase and GAIC when we sell BUT this tax only affect land-owners with larger acreage. They’ve lived on their properties that have had no roads, no infrastructure and go without some utilities such as gas and mains water and sewerage connection. The only way they will make any gains is ONLY IF their land is sold to a land-developer sometime in the near future. Some land-owners do not have 20 years to be approached by a developer.
I live in the Strathtulloh Estate and our property of just 9 acres, falls just outside of the UGB, however I am fighting the proposed legislation along with those that are in the UGB. I have attended meetings and I have listened to people’s stories and heard them cry. I am terribly concerned that if the GAIC tax is legislated in its current form, people will be forced off their land because their land will be rezoned UGB by their Council; and will then incur higher rates. One lady gave me an account of what she is paying in rates now, around $2,000; however it is set to increase to around $12,000. This lady is a pensioner and stated to me that there is no way she can afford to pay her rates therefore she will have to sell and this could mean to anyone (not a land-developer). She said that she can’t sell immediately because of the proposed legislation but does ultimately need to sell (to downsize). She said that she would be hit with the tax but of course could not sell for what the land MAY be worth in 20 years time. The tax would actually be more than the current property value. She would be left with nothing but a bill to the State Government. This is ludicrous. She intended her land to be her superannuation and it has been a place that she has lived all of her life. What a dilemma she is in! I really felt for her. Who could deny that this is a “Killer” Tax for a lot of people?
Most, as I said, will have to just sell to down size or go into nursing homes because they are in their 70’s and 80’s. They will not pass on a debt to their children and they don’t have 20 years to wait for a developer to come knocking on their door to purchase their land. We are told that the tax stands on the first sale and NOT JUST at development stage only. So this is a huge concern of the people.
We all understand that there must be an infrastructure tax; however it should only be paid by the developer at point of development - as is done in other states. It will ultimately be the developer that will make the biggest financial gain. The developer will subdivide the land into hundreds of allotments and will tack on the GAIC tax onto the price of each of the allotments. The purchaser will therefore be paying the tax which would form a part of their purchase price. It is the purchaser that will be benefiting from the new infrastructure, so why shouldn’t they pay? It has always been “User Pays” for everything else– so why change it now? No one loses out this way. We all have figured out why the State Government wants this legislation passed - It's just one hell of a massive money grab! They need and want the money asap and this is the way they can get it fast. We know it because they've run out of money. Do they really think we are all stupid.
Thank you Micheal for your comments, since my comments at the meeting in the city I have learnt that I am worse off than I first thought as at the time I had noted from newspaper articles that the Tax was for the first 4ha not as I now found out 2ha which will wipe us out completly even owing the goverment as for the so called increase in value that is no good to the people who need to sell their property in the near future, keep up the good work everybody may be some one hear our voices June Dossett
C'mon Madden..divert the topic from an unfair tax to removal from the UGB. What about people already inside the 2005 UGB? Still want to tax them $80,000 or will it be more to make up for the shortfall? You don't need a delegation of people to meet with you AGAIN as you're pal Seamer has the stories of heartbreak and despair already on his desk in the form of over 3000 submissions against the GAIC. Do you honestly think you can draw little lines all around a map. this proves continually of his 'policy on the run'. Wake up and put it back to point of development, ie on the developers.. the ones that make the most profit out of our land!
I have just looked at the GAA website they are now going to take a further 18 months to undertake environmental and cultural investigations. Until that is completed who is going to buy property with unknown development potential?
These studies should have been done prior to announcing the boundary change. The government has not only impacted property values with the proposed GAIC but for the next two years no one will know what can be developed.
Planning Minister Madden made the following statement in relation to why they insist the GAIC Tax is triggered at first sale inside the UGB.
"We are interested in recouping the contribution at that point because that is where the most significant change in the value of the land occurs."
This statement is absolutely and undeniably wrong. It is the exact opposite of the truth. the Value of land increases extremely slowly where the land is 30 or 25 years from actual homes being built. The value curves upwards as housing developments creep towards the outer land in the UGB. By the time your property is 10 years away from development the value is rising firmly. In the last 5 years the value skyrockets. This is the truth. It always has been.
Has this Labor Government accepted Political donations from developers?
Why does this Government insist the Developers that make the real money, do not pay any Tax towards the Infrastructure? This Government needs to explain it's real motives on this Proposed Tax.
There is simply no moral excuse that can be used to justify this GAIC Tax. It is excessive and targets the wrong people. It represents a new level of State Government Greed.
I have an interest in an 11 hectare property in Beveridge. We have paid rates for past 17 years with nil return. Can't even grow a crop on the land due to the drought. Our rates have gone up 300% in the past year. Now if we want to sell the GAIC will take over 50% of the sale price based on a current valuation. We still have to pay Capital Gains Tax on top of this. Madden's "UGB windfall" claims are nonsense. The GAIC is a disgrace.
Just when we thought a comfortable retirement was looming, along comes Mr Brumby & Mr Madden's GAIC ($1.4million on our 16 hectares) - are we in or out of the new UGB ? If we are in our rates will increase dramatically by up to 10 times. Our rates would be more than our annual income (Age Pension) If we are out who will want to buy this property, in a drought declared area ?? This year the GAIC is going to be $95,000 per hectare, then of course it will be indexed to goodness knows what, by the time we are able to sell. This tax should be levied on to the developers - they are the ones who will make the big money. Roll on election time. Goodbye Mr Brumby & friends.
Apart from the tax the immediate problem is the council rates that will bankrupt many families. As yet I am not affected but I believe that it is creating a nightmare for all, especially those who are affected now and those who will be in the future. If it is not stopped now how many more will fall under the new tax when they decide to increase or change the boundries.
Supposedly wealthy families will leave an enormous debt to the next generation.
Brumby, Madden and all the other labour party puppets keep harping about the windfall, the homeowners will have, and they need to tap into it for infrastructure. I would like to know what happened to the windfall Brumby inhereted from Jeff Kennett! He Blew it! and now he wants ours!
This tax is retrospective in that alone unfair. Toolern (Melton Growth Corridor) brought into the UGB in 2005, has not started development and there is approximately 20 years supply. Some of these properties proposed to be brought into the UGB will not be developed for 30 to 40 years. This means the owners at the latter stages will have to suffer huge rates for a long time, before they can sell their homes at a value that enables them to pay this tax. Developers do not pay high prices for land that is this far from development. This tax will only extend the developers’ process of purchasing closer to development as the carrying cost of this tax will dramatically increase the cost of the end house block. Professor Michael Buxton, an RMIT planning expert who has written a detailed report on Melbourne's Green Wedges, chaired the Premier's green wedges taskforce. Describes the development going on in Melbourne's growth corridors as “internationally worst practice - it's an absolute outrage”.
This state Government is a joke! The Gooney Mafia on crack is what they are, stealing the fruit of hard labour by the dedicated working plebs of this state. The GIAC doesn't effect me 'yet' but I feel it's only a matter of time. Let's vote these a$$holes out at the next election!
I live in a Growth Area at Woodstock and am not personally caught by this imoral and excessive tax that will take over half the current sale value of my neibours properties.
The reason I am not caught with the GAIC Tax is that my property will be taken by compulsory aquirision for the E6 Freeway/Tollway if it goes ahead.
However I am so deeply offended by this proposed Tax that I have spent many evenings writing to Politicians for my neibours, many of whom are old and not really able to express themselves. Almost all of them have little or no 'Super' because of their age group. Their land is the only 'Super' they have to retire on.
These ordinary people should not be humiliated, bunkrupted and cast aside to supply infrastructure for young first home buyers with a lifetime of 'Super' ahead of them.
And a 'Hardship Board'!! Mr Brumby go to hell!
Michael
If Madden is correct and everyone will get $356,000 per hectare regardless of development timing then run a freeway through my property but pay me compensation at the same rate.
I bet the land will be magically worth a lot less when it is compulsorily acquired.
l thought there was a law against discrimination ? forcing people off their land by upping Rates . ? and $95,000 tax as preposed . Also Back dating a tax and going against the will of the people guess l am in fairy land as well as the government why bother working hard for land which at the end of the day is still not yours ?? why bother ?? Madden and Brumby need their fellow politicians to get some balls and stand up to them and say no !!like they should !to the mess they want to make, GET SOME GUTS PLEASE AND DO WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE DO TO YOU!!
It seems neither Brumby or Madden or their advisors have bothered to read the reports that underpin this flawed tax policy.
They are rleying soley on what the Growth Area Auhtority are saying,the one's who get funded by the tax.
Don Nardella, Tim Pallas, Danielle Green and Tammy Lobato sure haven't read them. Yet they repeat the same dribble that comes from the GAA.
You have to ask yourself if any Labor politician has read any of these reports.
They will actively vote to have this tax introduced in Palriamnet next month and in doing so hurt many families and the elderly. Not one of them will cross the floor and not one of them deserves you vote next year.
When we first heared about this Tax I along with other interested persons wrote to various Ministers including Mr Brumby and Mr Madden expressing out horror and dismay, I received some replies but noticabley absent were replies from Mr Madden and Mr Brumby ( 2 Letters written to Mr Brumby it seems they are not interested in what the families in the areas they have chosen to tax think they will go ahead regardless just money grabbing
Monate sp?ter gehackt wurden, mit dem Resultat wow gold , dass s?mtliche Gegenst?nde der Accounts entwendet und verkauft wurden. Die Besitzer dieser Accounts haben diese Unternehmen für ihre Dienstleistungen bezahlt – oft auch mit einer gr??eren Summe -, nur um sp?ter von ihnen betrogen zu werden. Jede Woche erreichen uns neue Geschichten über die Folgen der Inanspruchnahme dieser Dienste und viele Spieler müssen bereits mit den Langzeitfolgen ihrer Entscheidungen leben.
sam
- l bet the submissions get filed in the same draw
|60.240.162.xxx
|2009-08-26 15:10:18
Vote them out All l hear at rallies is the same shit like parrots reading the stupid words that are blantant lies to the public making farmers appear stupid and greedy,
We live in Officer and for the past 2yrs local Council have been saying our property will be rezoned to Res 1. We all know when this happens our rates will triple or more with no added benefit to the rate payer. So if you cant afford the rate increase your next option is to sell and move on, but if we do that we will be hit with the GAIC tax, where is all this fair? We decided 14yrs ago to raise our family in a semi rural area, worked hard to buy the land (even though its only 1 hectare) build a nice home, now we'll either be rated out or taxed out or BOTH!!! We know who we're voting for next state election.
The Mr brumby & Mad Madden need to be kicked out of politic's real fast. The're sure Not to get my voted for next years election.
We brought our 10 acers of land in beveridge in 2003. We have 3 kids that love where they live and love our hobby farm. We have sheep, chook's, goats, geese, a dog , and a cat. We have put our hearts and sole's into our property, so that one day we all can have a bright future.
It's not alot of land but its all we have. If this unfair taxes passes through parliment, we will be financial ruined. My 3 children will have there inheritance taken away from them. WE would be penny less, wouldn't be able to buy another property similar to what we have. We would be forced to live in a shitty over crowed suburb.
This government needs to be stopped!!
WE pay our taxes, we pay our rates, we paid our stamp duty on our land, we paid GST on all our building materials to build our house and MR Brumby wants us to pay more taxes for the GAIC Tax I say take US OUT of the urban growth boundry we have had enough in paying taxes i dont want any of the windfall that they claim we would recieve.
Kathryn caminti
Where does the City of Whittlesea stand on this Tax? Many other Councils are making clear and definate statements and submissions against this Imoral Tax. They are standing up for their Rural Communities, supporting their farmers and small land owners rights to the free market value of their properties.
Demand the City of Whittlesea takes a position on this unfair tax that will devistate it's residents. If they do not have an opinion demand to know why!
Naidin,Wyndham council still refuses to oppose or support the GAIC stating it has "no role in this matter as it is not the responsible authority for the implementation of the GAIC" But hold on you represent people who voted for you to uphold their rights in a democratic society, so surely you SHOULD take a stand against the GAIC! If local govt doesnt stand up for its ratepayers who will or are they scared of not getting their little piece of the supposed 'windfall' via an increase in rates. Shame on you councillors for believing the untruths being expounded by the govt. THERE is NO 10 fold increase, unless you develop, your land is pretty much the same as it always has been except your neighbor outside the UGB is better off than you as he doesnt have to pay the tax. Stand up Wyndham Councillors, show some backbone as others have done! Vote NO to a landowners GAIC!
With the proposed $95,000 per hectare tax on property, owners within the new Urban Growth Boundary, Brumby and Madden have created two classes of citizen in Victoria. Those who use infrastructure and those who pay for it. You have no mandate for this. Shame Brumby, shame.
Brumby's proposed tax is nothing more than a blatant money grabbing rip-off. It is the Government's role to provide infrastructure and build schools and hospitals and provide public transport and then its the developers role to provide roads and utility services within a given parcel of land. They're ripping more and more from us all the time. How much is enough? They wouldn't dare bring in such a tax to suburban homeowners. Any government who brings in this tax is dead in the water.
Julia Gillard's electorate includes landowners caught up in this tax. What does her office say " it is a state matter"
Labor politicians in the Brumby government have been told to all vote for the tax despite what their constituents say.
Councils want to sit and wait until they see the legislation.
Shame on you all for ignoring the people, three levels of government and not one representing the families, elderly, sick and the dead caught up in this despicable tax.
Remember every sick person has a mother and every dead person has a family, they will never forgive you for what you are trying to do.
All the people want is for the GAIC to be levied at the development stage – both Brumby and Madden are deaf, dumb and blind to this option? I wonder if it's because their hidden agenda is to apply this tax to all property sales throughout Victoria? The Labor party should be ashamed of themselves for even considering putting constituents in financial hardship and perhaps this is the reason Brumby is and will remain the unelected Premier.
I am writing to you in relation to an answer you gave in Parliament to a question put forward by Mr Peter Kavanagh MLC on the 3rd September 2009.
Specifically, I would like to refute one assertion that you made and to put forward my concerns regarding three aspects of the proposed GAIC.
First of all, I can categorically state that I have asked not to be part of the Urban Growth Area. I'm happy living in this area, we have a great community and we all enjoy the freedom and amenity that is afforded us by living in this area. If that point of view has not previously been communicated to you, I am now formally doing so.
I am well aware that my request is unlikely to be heard favourably, and so I need to put forward three points about the GAIC that I believe to be harsh and unfair.
First, I should explain my position: we have lived on our hobby farm of 10 acres (approx 4 Ha) for about 15 years. We grow some produce, keep chooks and horses and generally enjoy “the Good Life”. We have struggled through the drought to keep our orchards going by the use of re-cycled water – all without any assistance from governments (state or federal).
As I have said, there are three specific points that I would like to raise:
• The illusory nature of the windfall profits that you are ascribing to our situation post re-zoning;
• The dysfunctional nature of the GAIC as proposed, and;
• Our inability to stay on our land in the face of rising rates.
Windfall Profits
Whilst broad acre landholders will undoubtedly achieve some large profits on their landholdings, I am speaking about my owns situation (and whilst I don't represent my neighbours, I know that their situation will be very similar to mine). The commercial value of our property is tied up in the improvements in a disproportionate manner than that which prevails for broad acre landholders. My most recent rates notice values the land at $466,000 or $116,500 per hectare (approx). Now applying your oft stated 10 fold gain in property prices, I'd be looking at $4.6 million – and if you'd like to write me a cheque I'll be happy to take your offer! My understanding is that land in this area is more likely to achieve $120,000 per acre so my land is likely to be worth about $1.2 million.
So something like $750,000 increase in land value. Still not a bad return on a commercial basis, until you remember that I have a house, sheds and orchards on this land – all of these improvements have a commercial value of approximately $400,000.
Subtract the GAIC at $95,000 per hectare and I am actually worse off even before I start looking for a new property that can sustain my lifestyle and amenity.
There are other costs associated with moving to another property:
• Move costs and legals – at least $20,000;
• Stamp duty on the new property - $40,000;
• Additional travel time to get to work – at least $20,000 per year;
In addition, there are huge lifestyle and social dislocation costs associated with splitting up our community. I can't put a dollar value on these costs – but they far outweigh any of the dollar values that I have outlined above.
In summary, for the vast majority of the people who are to be affected by this proposal, they will end up financially, socially and spiritually impoverished by your proposal.
Dysfuntional Nature of the GAIC
Whether or not a growth contribution should be levied, I would put it to you that it should be levied in a manner that is fair, equitable and does not distort the property market.
The immediate affect of your proposal is that no-one in this area can sell their property. If we sell at the going rate of a rural landholding we will get stung with the GAIC – so our $800,000 farm might nett us $400,000 after paying your tax. We can't sell to developers at the urban rate yet, and many of us will be locked into this situation for decades to come. This is a totally untenable situation for a government to place it's citizens in.
Forced to Sell
Once the new growth area is declared, it is certain that the rates will increase in line with the increased land value – even though it may be many years before this increase in value can be realised.
This will result in an effective pincer movement on landholders in this area – we will be forced to sell, but will only be able to sell at rural prices and then get hit by the GAIC.
Like most of my neighbours, my wife and I have worked long and hard to buy our property – your proposed legislation will steal the fruit of our labour from us – IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!
After reading the information on this site, I am sitting at the desk, wondering how on earth the government that is meant to represent and provide services for the people, has the power to fundamentally ruin people's lives, and steal from them everything they and their families have worked for. How disgusting!
Regards, Tonia
To the Labour MPs of Victoria living and governing in a democracy, elected by the people to represent the people. How many of you ladies & gentlemen believe that it is right to impose a tax on a minority for infrastructure that will be used and benefited by all? Awaiting your response!
I am writing to inform you that I am taking your offer to be excluded out of the UGB. My property is in Rockbank Victoria.
I am not interested in your ficitonal ten-fold land value increase. You have not provided any proof to justify your claims, your credibility as a Minister bestowed to represent the people of Victoria is under scrutiny.
I believe you are being coaxed and fed alot of "bull" by beaurocrats & advisors. I also believe that you are not as dumb as you may sound, but you chose to be, to protect your standing in the Labour Party and your financial future.
Put yourself in my shoes and tell me that you believe the spin (lies). Grow some "nuts" and release the Charter Keck Cramer Report. Waiting on yor reply! NOT holding my breath!
It seems the GAIC has been returned to the policy makers for amendment. The suggested time frame for introduction into parliament is now November.
Any change must shift the GAIC away from the title owner to another trigger point such as A Statement of Compliance or Planning Permit Approval for development, otherwise landowners will still face the same problems experienced under the existing proposal.
Take the Tax off Title Ownership and there is no need for a hardship committee.
All political parties need to be aware that this is a fundamental requirement of the Taxed Out group. It will bring Victoria in line with the rest of Australia and take away the need for a Hardship Committee.
This is the fairest way to levy an Infrastructure Tax.
this tax is horrible. i dont understand why the govt is doing is this to australian familes who already pay taxes, this tax is going to ruin families and force them to sell up. the govt should be ashamed of themselves.
The manner in which the introduction of the GAIC has been delivered speaks volumes on the standard of consultant professionalism hired to advise the government on this issue.It seems to me the selection of consultancy is flawed and possibly based on considerations other than aptitude and experience in the role required.
In a nutshell Jobs for the boys and forget about capacity and merit.
What is the Liberal Party position concerning GAIC?.
If the Libs are fair dinkum about getting into power at the next election why don't they say they will either abolish this Tax or at the very least pass the obligation onto the developer when they develop the land.
This is the Libs chance to stand up for the farmer, and expose this hidden tax to the masses. Most people are not aware of it's existence.
If anyone thinks it's fair to pay a tax on something you may do in 20 years time at a set rate irrespective of the relevant demographic and home specifics, then they are in polite terms, delusional!
If this does come to pass, I hate to think the kind or anarchy it will create within the home owner and tenant markets, and how much of an increase in homelessness this will impose!
Stop this madness now!
I AM VERY WORRIED WHERE THIS GOVERNMENT IS LEADING EVERYBODY!!!!
THEY ARE ROBBING THE POOR, AND HELPING THE RICH THE DEVELOPERS!!! I WILL NOT BE SELLING MY LAND, AND I WILL NOT BE PUSHED OUT BY PAYING RATES TO BE RATED OUT!!!
BRING IT ON BRUMBY, YOU WILL BE LOSING A LOT OF VOTES!!!)
SUSAN
Judith
- I'm not a property owner but I support you!
|120.155.103.xxx
|2009-10-09 11:42:44
State of Disgrace
Oh, here we go
Mr Brumby has decided to extort
A whopping great illegal tax
In a particularly shameless rort
Is anyone surprised?
After all, he is the chieftain
Of a place that was once called Victoria
And is now his private fiefdom
People thought the Liberals were bad
Yet now Labor is a curse
Though suggest the Libs might get back in
And people shriek, ‘They’d be worse!’
Both handed out contracts with impunity
To their mates, and their cronies
Who cared about anything but the people –
At the mercy of business leaders and phonies
Once upon a time
Some angry citizens in another nation
Coined a lovely phrase:
No taxation without representation
And does anyone believe
That the people of this state
Are represented by a government
They’ve come to fear and hate?
If they keep stealing people’s water
And fleecing not the rich, but the poor
And moving roads to please their mates
One day there’ll be civil war
Is this the most disgraceful excuse for a government
A democracy’s ever seen?
They’ve alienated me irretrievably
I’ve gone and joined The Greens
Having read subject comments, I am surprised that people seem to be believing That Don is supporting us and Melton Council in rejecting the GAIC as it stands.
Nowhere does his comments refer to his rejection, they merely state that he is making Madden aware of his constituents concern on the issue. (As if he wasn't aware of it until now)
Come on DON, WHat we might believe is if you make a public statement that you DO REJECT THE PROPOSED GAIC IN ITS PRESENT FORM AND THAT YOU WILL BE VOTING AGAINST IT IN PARLIAMENT IF NOT AMENDED SO THAT DEVELOPER PAYS THE GAIC.
Judith Loriente
- Another poem, re the last comment
|114.78.131.xxx
|2009-10-12 00:22:22
"Power To The Party"
Men, Machiavelli wrote in The Prince
A book of more wisdom than baloney
Can suffer the loss of their fathers
Better than the loss of their patrimony
Translate that to the modern world
And I suspect I’m not alone
In thinking people can endure a lot
Provided you don’t threaten their homes
Goethe said that genius
Is knowing when to stop
I doubt there’s a genius in this government
Not one amongst the lot!
Though even if there were
Why would a Labor MP consider
Questioning decisions made by the premier
And his sidekick, the plotting minister?
For that would be a violation
Of sacred Party Unity
Their mates would shun them like they had the plague
Or even leprosy
They’d be thrown out of the treehouse
And laughed at where they fell
Or abducted in the dead of night
And thrown down a well
And once the contagion had been removed
The survivors would regroup
And pledge themselves to do the same
To the next to fly the coop
Yet the poor old folk these people rule
Expect protection from tyranny!
They’ve forgotten the politician’s golden rule:
Thou Shalt Blindly Follow The Party
If they want their interests served
They’ll have to elect one of their own
An Independent Member of Parliament
Or it’s goodbye to those homes
Australia’s a democracy
But Victoria no longer is
It’s run by and for developers –
The high priests of big biz
Their rights are etched in stone
Oh, make no mistake!
Especially if you’re a serf
On one of their estates
If they like the look of a joint
They’ll come and make their claim
And the very next thing you know
They’ll be ruling a feudal domain
One where domestic and international law
Have vanished, never to return
Your legal rights will be for them to decide
They can make you bleed and burn!
And if your proud blood boils at that
You’ll have the option of selling up
Though as for the money you raise from the sale –
Ho-hum! – they’ll take their cut
That’ll be ninety-five thousand dollars please!
Payable to Mr Brumby, my mate
Then he’ll pass it onto me
That’s how we run this state
It’ll buy roads, schools and hospitals
For the peasants on my land
Since for the government to pay for these things
Is more than they can stand
Governments were invented to provide these things? –
Is that what I hear you say?
Sorry, luvvie – get with the times
This state’s now user pays
The government takes money from Canberra
And from twenty-two different fines
Then contracts work out to people like me
So its pockets stay nicely lined
And they can spend it on the important things
You know – like Grand Prixs
They really impress the tourists
Especially ones from overseas
So, now – you understand?
You’ll pay this new land tax
And before you think of resisting
You’d better understand some facts
The rich bastards who run this state
Don’t live anywhere near you
They’re in Toorak, Brighton, Malvern, Hawthorn,
Surrey Hills, Canterbury and Kew
So they don’t have any motive
To stop this injustice, you duffers!
Why on earth would they?
They’re not going to suffer
A class action lawsuit?
You’re threatening that now?
Oh, please, don’t bother
The government has the deepest pockets in town
They’ll drag the case out for twenty years –
Their lawyers know those tricks
They’ll bankrupt every last one of you
You rebellious peasants from the sticks!
Yes, Australia’s a democracy
And Victoria a capitalist oligarchy
Where the gap between the haves and have-nots
Could not be displayed more starkly
Justice is for sale
To the highest bidder on the floor
Though things needn’t always be like that –
That’s what we have elections for
The Developoment tax is very bad. It shouldn't happen to people. anyone who sells their land is then taxed about the same amount as they have recieved for the land. We are very much apposed.
It is quite possible that the GAIC was conceived by the CEO and council of WYNDHAM as they attempt to steal our money to pay for community infrastructure which traditionally has been the responsibility of all Victorian taxpayers,but now seems that landowners are paying twice.
by GOOGLING up BERNIE CRONIN and reading some background data, one can see that the GAIC might well have been that councils initiative
GEORGE
You want to pack another million into Melbourne
Why, oh why, oh why?
Why deliberately, calculatingly try to destroy
People's priceless quality of life?
Don’t think we don’t know the reason –
It’s because you’re helplessly in thrall
To your law-unto-themselves developer mates
Who make money out of urban sprawl
Not that they’d ever live there
Though they sell it, it’s not good enough for them
The mere thought of living on a quarter acre block
Would send them round the bend
They’ll put up tracks of housing
Though as for public transport, health care and shops?
The residents of these neo-slums can shift for themselves
They couldn’t give a damn about the lot
As long as they’ve sold every last house
Those developers are doing just fine
They can pack up and get the hell out of there
Truly, the perfect crime
And with no trains, trams or buses
No other way out of their abode
The residents will be dependent upon cars –
More vehicles upon our roads
That’s more air-borne pollution
That’s less clean air to breathe
That’s more congestion on our roads
Is that really what we need?
No one but the developers gain
So why not leave alone
The people who already live there
And wish to continue to make their homes
In places that haven't been bulldozered –
Bent to the will of humankind
And turned into concrete jungles
That poison the soul and the mind?
But Labor’s more Liberal than the Liberals
The people have no say
So when Ahab wants their vineyards
They’d better just scurry out of his way
What a sellout!
This amended legislation has absolutely no intention of releasing landowners from the the obligation of paying the GAIC. If I subdivide my 100 HA into 5 Ha lots as I had always intended,the Gaic applicable will be $475,000.00 per lot.
Who will be stupid enough to pay the value of the Gaic and then a reasonable return of $250,000.00 to me making it a total of $725,000.00/lot from which I still need to expend for services and roads to each lot.
This Brumby / Madden mob is out to destroy/steal our laboured for entitlements.
A pox on you and your cronies.
Jackson
HEY
What an idea, FRANK and TREVOR, a development co-op will turn the tables on the current developers,pay the GAIC without penalty and produce larger blocks for a reduced price to the first home buyers.
Everybody needs to think on this and show their support.
Jackson
They are allowing purchasers who buy in full knowldge of the tax the right to Hardship relieif if there is a problem.
The landowner, who has had this notice registered on their title declaring that the property comes with a tax liability, has no right to Hardship provisions.
How rediculous can you get.
Not that their should be a Hardship Committee as the tax should be triggered at the point of development as it is everywhere else.
This tax is just a way for the Government and local councils to rip off the hard working land owners. This tax should only be paid at such time when the land is going to be sub-divided and the money should go towards roads and infrastructure for that particular area. This should also not have to apply for land purchased prior to the acceptance date. The government is just trying to grab as much tax from other sources as they can and as usual the people of the western suburbs are the ones to pay for it. Perhaps being a safe Labour area doesn't pay.
At a recent Anti Gaic meeting I observed a great deal of hostility and passion against this legislation, such that I would not be surprised if this criminal like GAIC provokes ordinary
effected Australians to act likewise.
i would like to object to the Gaic tax as totally unfair and it is an infringement on the rights of hard workin victorians by a money grabbing government
Don Nardella is the most frustrating person I've met. He is crowing the labour govts new draft as a govt listening to the people and he's actually taking the credit for it! Where is a candidate to stand against this moron..WE ARE NO LONGER A SAFE LABOR SEAT! The labor pains are at their peak and its time to give birth to a new govt rep that will represent the people in Spring ST. Don had the audacity to tell me that developers will want to buy ALL the land in the western UGB. where are they? Isnt this proof that labour is only looking after the developers. They dont care about the family orientated battlers who've worked hard. Come out to my place Don and the rest of you laborites, come out and pick up rocks, spray weed, put up with dry grass and hot,dusty winds. do that for a week then tell me to my face I've had a windfall..I've been doing this for 22 years! What have you done?
You are ruining a beautiful country that many (including yourself Donatello) chose to live here. You are turning us into a communist state run by a dictator. To those people that think this draft is our solution, look closer, the govt is not telling you the whole truth and this is a govt that cant be believed.
And yes, sadly Don does think we are stupid..but hang on we keep voting the idiot in so who is the moron?
Dear Mr Madden,
How does it feel when you go to bed knowing full well that what you are doing is worst then the Comunist countries.
You thought that by changing the wording in you proposal no one would understand!! well you're wrong again Mr Madden.
We live in Australia and not in China, for you to just think of a tax and just legislate without any consultation with the people!! who gave you the opportunity to to help them and not tax them to there grave.
But that's ok with you because you think that people of Victoria are stupid and you can put wool over there eyes.
Remember one thing Mr Madden people gave you the job and they will take it off you in the next election and I will vote against you and your party and make sure that everyone in my area do the same.
So have a bit of respect for the people and maybe consult with us before any other bright ideas you come up with .
why does the government keep hurting the ordinary person. wish there was an election now and then they would really know that the people of victoria don't want this craic. to everyone that voted for the labor govt. thanks heaps...not...
The GAIC & exponentially increased land taxes, that even apply to low income self-funded retiree landlords, are an outrageous & shameful attack on people who have worked & saved all there lives, believing in good faith that they could enjoy the benefits of paying off there land, without the government thieving the most of the fruit.
As this Government reneged on their promise to save Old Growth Forest, and are taxing my Mum out of existence, then even as a left leaning voter, I hate them.
The Revolution of 1999
Has well and truly failed
The deliverers have turned into the same people
Before whom Victorians once quailed
Not so very long ago
Our gratitude knew no bounds
They’d released us from years of tyranny
But then they released the hounds!
The north-south pipeline, the GAIC –
A tax to madden beyond belief
The threat’s hanging over ten thousand heads
An unending source of grief
They’re banking on one thing:
That property owners everywhere else
Will say: “It’s nothing to do with me
These people can look after themselves”
But such blunderers simply cannot see
One of legalised extortion’s effects:
The fact that anyone with half a brain
Will understand they might be next
Not to mention the precedent set:
That with the stroke of a pen
They can introduce any old tax they like
Above the law – that’s them!
“Fear and love cannot coexist”
Was one of Machiavelli’s maxims
And what other emotion than boundless fear
Could be aroused by such exactions?
What person affected by what they’ve done
Will trust or vote for them ever again?
Or forgive them for what they’ve put them through:
An unforgivable Labor pain
In a bygone era,this Government having invoked the hatred of its people would have suffered at their revolutionary hands. Beheading was the fashion or at the very least tarred and feathered.
Contemplate the passion and contempt you have invited by attempting to steal the dreams of a lifetimes work and yet expect not to be bought to account.
Perhaps in the full expectation of losing the next election, this rejected GAIC might be able to be used as the face saver for the demise of your Government.The tragedy for the Victorian people is that so much of their hard earned has been SQUANDERED by a seriously uneducated rabble of a Government who have lost or perhaps never ever had a notion of the value of money and who sit there in their offices
contemplating their luxury lifestyle in retirement.The contempt felt is palpable.
JOSEPH m
This tax arises when land is subdivided and aims to capture some of the windfall the landowner gets from re-zoning. Don't see a problem with it, and have yet to find a posting in this forum that addresses this issue honestly. Whingeing about 'hard working families' etc. is meaningless- could you people focus on facts. REZONED and SUBDIVIDED is when the tax applies. Address that if you can.
No-one is forcing you to sell your property as subdivided. If you've put that much money into your hobby farm (and that was your choice), sell it as such and pay no GAIC.
Subdividing + Selling is not meant to compensate you for the improvements you chose to make to your farm for your own farming use.
Guys, I suspect you have some valid criticisms of this tax eg. should it be paid by landowner, or developer?, but honestly, most of these rants don't do anything to explain your side logically. As a taxpayer who doesn't own a tract of land for rezoning, I'm happy for windfall rezoning profits to be taxed very heavily, and so are most people. Better still, stop the relentless population growth so the whole argument goes away. How would you feel about that? No rezoning for residential and no GAIC, but of course, no huge profits on sale of land either!
Pete, you have hit on the main problem with the GAIC. If a person sells their property as a hobby farm, as you suggest, the GAIC will still apply to the sale. This is why we are arguing against the proposal - the GAIC should only be payable when land is actually developed. Rezoning and subdivision are two completely different things. Most of the land rezoned in the new UGB will not be subdivided or developed for at at least 10 years and up to 20 years or more.
Get your facts straight before you criticise our fight. Do you think we would be wasting our time fighting this if we didnt think it was completely unfair??? We would prefer to be enjoying our lives and families than fighting this crap the Government has thrown at us. Pull your head in!!!
Pete,
MYER called you a No Nuthin.
How right that was. My guess is that you're still wet behind the ears and haven't even taken the time to learn all of the facts in this fight judging by the comments you have made.
My recommendation to you is to get off your backside and work (and save)for about 30-40 years and tell us then how it feels if someone tries to take all of what could be your lifesavings from you.
Before you make another comment go away and study the situation in depth.
joe
The Urban Development Institute of Australia (Victoria), the Property Council of Australia, The Law Institute of Victoria, The Victorian Farmers Federation, Whittlesea, Hume, Casey, Cardinia, Mitchell & Melton Councils, the Housing Institute of Australia and the Australian Property Institute all have serious concerns about the GAIC legislation.
Pete, I was just wondering, seeing as though Jeanette has fully informed you unemotionally of our plight, and you seem to have finally got the message,if you'd like to come to the rally. Hope to see you there!!
Judith
- "Some Property Owners Are Less Equal Than Others"
|58.111.225.xxx
|2009-11-17 16:54:39
All Victorian property owners are equal
But some are less equal than others
This in egalitarian Australia?
At the very thought, one shudders
If their state government decides that urban sprawl
Is headed in their direction
They can decide to hit them with a brand-new tax
Designed to bring despair and dejection
For it doesn’t ask a percentage
Of the increased sale price they’ll supposedly enjoy
It demands a lump-sum fee per hectare
And it’s the buyer that it annoys
So what are buyers going to do?
Subtract it from the price
Of what these properties once were worth
Lowering their value in a trice
Is that really such a windfall?
What if the tax is higher than the gain?
The government will have taken a chunk of their assets
And flushed it down the drain
A lovely way of rewarding the folk
Who’ve kept them in power for ten years!
Why don’t they just go into their bank accounts
And steal part of the fruits of their sweat and tears?
And why should only some citizens be hit –
Targeted, while the rest are ignored?
You’d think all property owners would pay the same taxes
You’d think they’d all be equal before the law
I thought the tax only applied when the property was sold and rezoned. So if a property was sold as a hobby farm and NOT subdivided are you saying GAIC is still payable? I can see your point on not wanting the tax to be payable until development occurs, as that's the closest point to where the increased value is realised.
To MYER and Joe M - guys look at your postings. Emotional, fact-free, attack-the-man whingeing. I doubt you'll see it, but you're not doing your cause much good.
Pete - the posting under latest news titled "Urban Growth Zone and your property" explains the rezoning issue. Under the current proposal to charge the GAIC on the first sale of property after it is included in the UGB, even if a farm or hobby farm is sold and the new owners intend to keep farming it (ie. it is not sold for development) the GAIC will apply. The tax liability can be deferred but this will incur penalty interest rates. Because so much land is being brought into the UGB a lot of it won't be developed for decades. No-one wanting a farm or hobby farm will be prepared to take on a GAIC liability (unless they can purchase at market value LESS the GAIC), so current landowners will be forced to either sell at a reduced price OR wait until their property comes under a PSP and can be developed. The only fair solution is to remove this sale trigger point and only charge the GAIC when land is actually developed.
Thanks Jeanette - that explains things clearly. I'm guessing you cannot opt your property out of the UGB (?). If you can, then the system seems fair (except for the question of when it's paid). If you can't - well I'm with you - it sounds ridiculous. You are right about the redevelopment - the idea of all that land being redeveloped immediately is just absurd.
Charging the GAIC at development time does seem to be the most sensible thing to do - I guess state public servants want their hands on the cash now. Don't get me started on this breed!
Hi Pete,
No, there is no way of opting out of the UGB. I know of many landowners who have asked to be taken out, but they haven't even had a response from the Minister and they're still in! No warning - no choice ...
I don’t blame Pete for originally assuming the GAIC only applied to subdivided properties, not hobby farms – what reasonable person would assume otherwise? The extent of this government’s moral and intellectual bankruptcy and unfitness to govern is hard to fully grasp, until they conclusively ram it down our throats.
But I’ll never budge from believing the GAIC is unacceptable in any form, except being paid by the developer. Why? Firstly, it’s set at a fixed rate per hectare, instead of a percentage of the windfall the government believes people will receive. A real Land Windfall Tax would subtract the price the owner paid from the price they sold the property for, then tax the seller a percentage of their windfall. E.g. if someone buys a property for $400,000 and sells it for $700,000, they will have made a windfall of $300,000. The government might then reasonably propose taxing them 5% or so of that $300,000 – though again, it should apply to everyone in the whole state. Are properties in the UGB really the only ones this government thinks are going to rise in value?
Take, for instance, the house Miegunyah in Toorak, which sold a few days ago for approx. $20 million. The owner bought it in 1991 for $2 million, and has therefore made a windfall of $18 million. Should that person pay no Land Windfall Tax, while people in the UGB have up to $95,000 per hectare deducted from the value of their properties? As has been pointed out, they might not even want to be in the UGB.
Lastly, the GAIC is supposedly to pay for infrastructure – though as the article “Parliament move to block urban expansion" (The Age, Thursday 12/11) mentioned, up to 50% may go on admin costs. But people already pay for infrastructure out of their regular taxes. Why should some people pay twice, just because they live in an area their government wants to develop?
Not only that, the govt has a surplus of $1 billion (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/boom-tax-hikes-give-1b-bonus/story-e6frf7jo-1225785538596). The GAIC is supposed to raise $2 billion. Why don’t they just use that $1 billion to cover half of it, then raise the other half by reigning in their squandering for a couple of years? They could easily do that - if they wanted to!
The tax liability to be placed on my property is $2.2mil. Can anyone tell me who would happily pay this then give me a decent price for my land on top of that? It's sheer discrimination to charge a fee in one area when other ares (ie Toorak, Torquay,etc) are hit with nothing. The existing infrastructure cannot cope with our existing population and why oh why we do need more people Ministers? We have no water, all good farming land is being raped by houses,there are too many cars on the road adding to congestion, yet we continue with the urban bulge. We have politicians coming out criticising Labor's quest to have larger populations, the likes of Carr and Thompson who have done their homework and have listened to the people and experts yet Dudd Rudd and his cohorts want to go down in a blaze of glory opening the flood gates to immigration when we REALLY should be looking after our own. How about giving back to the people instead of continually taking away from the minority of people who have actually worked hard to get what they have instead of bludging off the government.
Pete, I'll have a banner for you to hold at Tuesdays rally!!
Great job TAXED OUT!
No, I don’t suppose they would reign in their squandering. And the idea that taxation should be based solely on income – including windfalls from property sales – is too democratic for the tyrants running Victoria to be comfortable with. An undemocratic, extortionate taxation system helped provoke the French Revolution, and I won’t experience any surprise if it provokes major riots against this government.
I don’t understand why the whole of Victoria isn’t up in arms. Anyone who wants to dismiss people’s objections as unreasonable should ask themselves how they’d feel if the Brumby Government introduced a law stating that the next time they sold shares, the buyer would have to pay the govt a fixed amount per share, regardless of whether they sell them for $1 or $50. How is forcing buyers to hand over a fixed amount per hectare – which they will deduct from the price they’re willing to pay – different from devaluing people’s other investments? Can anyone answer that?
There’s another reason why the GAIC affects everyone: if it passes, how will anyone feel safe buying property on the outskirts of Melbourne again, knowing that if the govt declares their property in the UGB, it will be devalued by $95,000 per hectare? I know Justin Madden was recently quoted in The Age as saying that the UGB will not be moved in his lifetime, but those sort of promises have been made before. People who live near UGBs and want to sell their properties may find that potential buyers are now wary of them.
All I can do is wish you the best in trying to persuade the Greens and Liberals to block the GAIC in the upper house if it passes. I gather from Colleen Hartland’s page on The Greens website that she’s completely opposed to it, and the Opposition Planning Spokesman was also quoted as saying he had “very serious concerns” about the GAIC, so that’s looking hopeful. The Brumby Govt’s decision to re-privatise public transport demolished any last shred of respect I had for them, but finding out about the GAIC sank my opinion of them to a new low. After all they’ve done wrong, they don’t deserve to get away with this.
John’s comment that the GAIC on his property is $2.2 million got me thinking, and something occurred to me this morning. Am I being supremely cynical or only voicing what other people already suspect when I ask: is there any possibility the GAIC was invented solely as a means of forcing people in Urban Growth Boundaries into a position where they can only afford to sell their land to developers? After all, who but a developer hungry for land to turn into urban sprawl would pay that $2.2m on top of the buy price?
Perhaps money for infrastructure has nothing to do with it – after all, the govt has a $1 billion surplus that’s half of the $2 b the GAIC is supposed to raise. I know the original plan was to tax the seller, but what if Brumby & Co intended to change it to the buyer all along?
It’s a plan of evil genius:
• Declare areas with land developers want in the UGB
• Tell people that if they don’t want to be in the UGB, they can let the govt know – then ignore their letters
• Hit them with a $95,000 per hectare tax they’ll supposedly have to pay when they sell their land
• When they protest, change it to the buyer having to pay the $95,000 per hectare
• THEN when they protest that no one will pay that on top of the property, but will deduct it from the buy price, have those life-saving developers come along waiving their cheque books and saying, “We’ll give you your full asking price! We’re willing to pay the GAIC ourselves.”
As Jeanette wrote in her letter to The Age on Oct 7, “There needs to be an independent inquiry into the powers wielded by this Government. It is a law unto itself and does all it can to help big business, at the peril of anyone who gets in its way.”
In her article ‘Sprawl of the Wild’, Melissa Fyfe also wrote, “Recently The Age, with the help of city leaders and planning experts, identified enough land in Melbourne to accommodate the extra 600,000 homes that Madden insists we must make space for in the next 20 years. The land was not outside the existing growth boundary, it was inside: unused Crown land, opportunities along tram lines, tracts of inner-city land, space at Docklands, old council depots and railyards. The Government acknowledges more than half of these 600,000 homes could be built in established areas, but developers find it easier to build on greenfield sites.”
Oh they do, do they? How convenient that if the GAIC passes, the people who own those greenfield sites will only be able to afford to sell them to developers …
What do people think of this theory: that revenue is not the issue, but that the dictators in Spring Street want to dictate to people on land their developer mates want that they must sell their land to those developers and no one else, or face financial loss from a demolished sale price? It would be a pretty spectacular case of a government abusing its powers in order to manipulate its citizens into furthering the interests of big business. Should I go and found Paranoiacs Anonymous, or could there be something to it?
Judith, bearing in mind that many in the development and building industries don't like the GAIC either, I think your theory has some merit. The fact that the GAIC it is still charged on the first sale after inclusion in the UGB and any deferral or staged payment incurs premium interest will add significantly to holding costs and these additional costs, as well as the actual GAIC liability, will of course be factored in to the price purchasers are willing to pay. End result: landowners still pay the GAIC.
I see what you mean, but still, do you think there’s any possibility that developers who buy land in the UGB might actually be willing to pay the GAIC without deducting it from the sale price? If a seller has a choice between selling to a regular buyer who is only willing to pay the price minus the GAIC, thereby cheating them out of hundreds of thousands (or $2.2 million), or a wealthy developer who can and will pay what the property’s worth, what will happen? I think it’s not unreasonable to say the owner will have been basically told by their government, “Look, you can sell your property to a regular citizen for a massive loss, or just sell it to the developer for the full price. It’s your choice.” If that’s not legalised coercion, what is? And if developers really do prove willing to pay the GAIC without deducting it from the buy price, couldn’t a determined person try to make out a case for calling it anti-competitive behaviour: introducing a tax that gives one section of society – developers that are able and willing to pay the tax on top of the property price – an advantage over the rest of society, and allows them to gobble up as much land as they want (in areas where they happen to want to build), without real fear of competition? Because, why would people sell to the competition for a loss …
This is still just food for thought, but I can’t dismiss it as outside the capability of a government the seems to want to provide government of the developers, by the developers, for the developers. I also wonder whether any documents about the GAIC decision-making process are available under freedom of information laws.
There is always more than one way to skin a cat (apologies to our cat lovers )
Perhaps as a co-op we could club together and withold the sale of ugb land and sell only on our terms to developers, this would force the government to either open up more UGB land and then suffer the same co-op conditions or sit down with the co-op and thrash out a mutually acceptable arrangement as should have been done initially and avoided all this stress having been placed on the shoulders of
law abiding citizens.
If Brumby thinks latest poll shows he's a shoe in for the next election he's in LA LA Land.
Lenny
Jeanette
- Developers don't pay more than they have to
|58.165.59.xxx
|2009-11-22 23:41:18
Land with low or long-term development potential simply is not attractive to developers unless they can purchase it cheaply. They do not pay any more for land than they have to - and rightly so. They are, after all, in business to make money. They will pay a market value with the GAIC factored in (subtracted), not market value PLUS the GAIC.
I can't believe it has taken people this long to realise that the Victorian government are poor money managers.
They went over budget by several hundred million dollars on the 'fast train' project and more currently the MYKI ticketing project. While we have rural hospitals that face closure because their yearly operational costs are only 2 miilion dollars annually !
Why do people keep voting them in ?
Labor Victorian governments traditionally are poor economic managers. They spend like a drain and then devise ways to make up for their economic mismanagement. Thus the GAIC. Finally when they have done the damage people get sick of Labor and vote them out then its up to Liberal to come in and bring tough economic policy and "tighten the purse strings".
I am fully supportive of this cause and shall watch it closely. I feel for the people affected and hope that the state government have a change of mind.
Look out all you Victorian landowners Madden will want your land next. He continually changes the UGB, so whats preventing him from moving the UGB to incorporate all Victoria. So look out if you live in Regional Victoria,along the coast with your sea change, in the mountains with your views, you're next! Everyone forgets there are Mc Mansions inside the UGB so maybe they'll be targetted too. Hell, let's just tax us Victorians for breathing! The UGB is a farce birthed by Labor ,it is only a line and devt will proceed without it. So stop your scare mongering Madden. Let us all get on with our lives. I hope your xmas will be shitty as mine and my familys' will be thanks to you Mr. Grinch!
The GAIC concept is flawed at every turn. The idea that properties will automatically see a huge increase in value once put in the boundary is comical. There is no evidence to support this. Let the developers pay the tax at the time of development. Mr Madden and Mr Brumby should be ashamed of such a poorly constructed approach to this tax. Democratic - not even close!
Michael at Woodstock
- Labor MP's attack Landowners
|139.168.0.xxx
|2009-12-13 19:13:09
Labor planning Minister Justin Madden and Premier Brumby have described the farmers, hobby farmers and small landowners captured into their new "Growth Areas" as "Greedy" for not happily agreeing to hand over their life's work and savings in a new Tax they cowardly call a "Contribution"
Now that this immoral bill has finally gone before Parliament Labor MP's have attacked Landowners again, this time calling us "Spivs and Carpetbaggers". They have resorted to personal attacks on Growth area landowners, the Taxed Out organization that exposed their immoral tax and even personally attacking Michael Hocking in Parliament for representing us.
Any fair minded Victorian that has not made up their mind who to vote for at the next State Election should go to the Transcripts of the Victorian Parliament called "Hansard" and read for yourselves what Labor MPs Don Nardella and Danielle Green think of the people that voted them in. I had to look up the word "Spiv" to find out exactly what insult I was recieving.
If you own more land than a suburban "Block" then follow this link to see what your Labor MPs think of you.
http://tex.parliament.vic.gov.au/bin/texhtmlt?form=VicHansard.adv
Simply type "Spivs" in the Debate Text Box. Click on 2009 and November then hit search. It will take you to Don Nardella's speech.
Thanks Michael, I went to Hansard at Victorian Pqarliament with the link address. Minister Don Nardella's Speech was unbelievable. At no point did he maintain any moral basis for this disgusting new Land Tax he just simply abused anybody and everybody that oposes the Tax.
His main problem is that the only people defending this Ugly, Unfair and Counterproductive Tax are his other Labor Ministers.
According to the Labor MP's my family are "Spivs and Carpetbaggers" because they spent the last 30 years working seven days a week to own and pay a mortage on a small rural property. My family rightly feels that they are morally entitled to whatever the "Market Value" of their property becomes. Exactly the same as If they bought a property in Brighton or Williamstown or any other subburb. Over the decades these expensive properties have appreciated far more than rural properties, its real estate fact. But those people are entitles to their "Uplift" and rural properties are not?? Immoral Bullshit!
A Greedy Broke Government struggling to pay its bills. If your Local Labor MP voted for this Tax, (And they all did!), then vote them out of power.
Well I hope all you labor pollies have a xmas as bad as mine will be..still no decisions..still living in limbo..still a govt that doesnt care about its constituents. And Don I hope your house of cards falls down around you..you reckon you entered politics to help your community but I didnt know you had changed your address to Spring St. When did you lose touch with reality and the real people out here in the west? When are you idiots in the west going to stop voting for a govt that wont do anything for us because we are such a safe labor seat? At least if the Libs got in they'd look after us..a jewel in their crown that labor has left unpolished for years. Labor I'm not voting for you anymore..time to change camps. 2010..bring it on..the year of an election and an opportune year for every individual to speak up and be heard!
If there was any doubt as to the direction the Labor party is taking Australia then google up "Brigalow Corporation and Fee Simple land rights"
There is a concerted drive to remove all Australian Land from private ownership with QLD already done for and NSW well on the way.
The information is rivetting.
Gordon
The suggested tax on undeveloped property, hitherto generally the bread and butter of hard working farming families, as suggested by Minister Madden is attacking the wrong people. Developers should be subjected to any tax applicable, and by the time it is spread across the resulting blocks for sale, will be relatively minimal. I'm afraid Minister Madden reached his Peter Principle at the time he quit AFL football. This tax policy is senseless in the extreme, and shows what morons are running the state.
After reading your website etc etc , I can only say..Good On You all for a great job..well done. I don't believe that this ALP Government will wake up, not that matters as we have an election this year. (thank heavens!!). It's also a worry as no matter who is in Government, the same fat cats are running the show!! They should go when the Government falls (as in the USA). Keep up the great work you are doing!
So the Brumby Government believes it has reached an acceptable compromise by reducing the inital payment from $95,000 per Hectare to $28500.00 (30%), with the balance payable progressively as land is sub divided.
This still impacts on Landowners in a serious way and should be wholly unacceptable to Taxed out members.
I hope that Taxed ouit can still resist the introduction of the GAIC and not succumb to brumbies pea in a thimble moves.
J Frost, dont worry Taxed Out is not accepting this media hype that the GAIC has changed. Madden released a media report early on that had people celebrating until they realized it was absolutely false. Labor is good at putting a spin on words in an attempt to divert public sympathy away from govt lobbyists. Unfortunately the majority of people unaffected believe our land gets this "windfall" gain, that we are all "greedy" landowners living in "McMansions" that dont want to pay a bit of tax. The truth... My family(4 of us)live in a 14 sq house on the outskirts of Melb where no one wanted to live as it was covered in weeds,rocks, no amenities etc. I havent had developers knocking on my door promising me millions and many who live within the 2005 boundary have not been approached either. And I am one of MANY! There is more evidence to disprove the govt than support it yet they espouse the same lies.How does one get through to the general public when the govt elected by the people for the people dont listen ...and blatantly continue to show their arrogance by shamming the public consultation process?
Easy... Brumby.... you have to go!!!
Unless you can stand at your front gate and watch houses being built down the road the uplift will remain bullshit for the next 20 or more years untill you can see house creaping up the road.
Meanwhile your property is worth $95,000 less per hectare in 2010, because that is what it says on your property title and nobody is going to pay you its true value then pay the tax on top for you. It will be taken off your property sale offer. Most of us are still chained to our properties for the next 20 or 30 years unless you walk away with a fraction of what it is worth.
This Government has to go!! Start writing to your Politicians now.
Michael
Robin & Judith
- Criticism by Harry & Janine Swieboda
|121.215.29.xxx
|2010-05-20 11:23:45
Surely Harry & Janine's comments are made in ignorance.They have been able to criticise, but have not been able to suggest an alternative. There is no option but to keep up enormous pressure on both Labour and Liberal. Please note the Libs have backed Taxed Out for 15 months, but have now passed the Bill in the lower house. Who wants friends if they stab you in the back. I would rather deal with enemy I can see. I hope they change their mind.
Affected land owner.
The tax should be paid when the land is actually developed. 
0
l thought there was a law against discrimination ? forcing people off their land by upping Rates . ? and $95,000 tax as preposed . Also Back dating a tax and going against the will of the people guess l am in fairy land as well as the government why bother working hard for land which at the end of the day is still not yours ?? why bother ?? Madden and Brumby need their fellow politicians to get some balls and stand up to them and say no !!like they should !to the mess they want to make, GET SOME GUTS PLEASE AND DO WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE PEOPLE DO TO YOU!!