Andrew Strauss
Double Bay NSW 2028
Hello Andrew.
Thanks for reminding me of the concern Mike Baird may not remain Treasury because he is in Legislative Assembly.
That Mike Baird is now State Treasurer is no surprise, Barry O’Farrell always insisted he would be, although it was not qualified that important areas of State taxation would be removed from him and transferred to a member of the Legislative Council.
An urgent need exists to reform State land tax; especially its impact on privately-funded rental housing and small business. Mike Baird has showed interest in reform.
A Treasurer that is directly answerable to an electorate can cause the member difficulties. However, only time will tell why land tax etc. was removed from Mike Baird.
A Treasurer in the Legislative Council is an old manoeuvre which successesive Labor goverments form the Carr Government (Michael Egan) to the Keneally government (Roosendaal) made an art form. It was a tactic to quarantine Labor’s Taxation agendas. Under those governments Labor members became mere post boxes for their constituency’s representations, forwarding their correspondence to Ministers to be answered by a faceless Treasury bureaucrat, specialising in irrelevant obfuscation.
For example, I asked why State land tax was imposed on Waverley’s rental housing 1151% higher then Waverley’s council residential land tax ‘Rate‘? No reply was ever received.
There have been Labor Treasurers in the Legislative Assembly — in recent times Maurice Iemma and Andrew Refshauge had a short term — however Treasury was always soon returned to the Legislative Council.
Michael Egan’s resignation from the parliament followed the removal of the tax-free threshold from state land tax in 2005, a decision to tax all privately-funded rental housing and small business throughout NSW and install State land tax in direct competition with Local Council land tax (which we all call Council Rates).
This move by Labor generated protests from far and wide, forcing Bob Carr into damage control by restoring the tax-free threshold of State land tax in 2006, and significantly increased the tax rate to impact freehold land, especially, if used as rental housing.
The Carr government presided over a mass removal of exclusively rental housing on freehold land which exacerbated a rental crises, while at the same time feigning concern. Bob Carr also removed public access to local council valuation rolls, debasing the creditability of the mass valuation process that sets land values for both State and Council land taxing.
The Carr government set many political land mines that exploded under Labor at the recent State election. Labor became arrogant, and died arrogant.
Barry O’Farrell may be quarantining Land tax by moving responsibility to an Upper House member. It may be he will address the impact of State land tax on freehold land used exclusively for rental housing, and small business. Time will tell.
Regardless, Mike Baird is today “The Treasurer of NSW”. He has show interest in reforming State land tax. Let us hope he remains there.
Regards,
Mike Danzey