This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Federal Treasury has recommended governments abolish stamp duties on housing and commercial property as part of planning and development reforms.
In the brief to the Gillard Government, referred to as the Red Book, Treasury said that population growth is inevitable with two-thirds of future growth is destined for capital cities.
Treasury said the solution lies in reforming planning laws and development levies, abolishing stamp duty and investing in urban infrastructure.
“To get cities right, existing impediments to the implementation of city strategic plans must be addressed. Governments must ensure better integration across relevant agencies and functions, with current failures in these areas imposing significant costs, delays and risk on aspiring home owners and undermining urban infill targets,” the Red Book said.
Treasury also said the Intergenerational Report 2010 projection of 35.9 million people by 2050 already factors in a significant drop in net oversizes migration from a peak of almost 300,000 in 2008-09 to 180,000 a year from 2011-12.
And even with this sharp drop in NOM, the average annual rate of population growth does not fall to the 1.4% average of the previous 40 years, until 2021.
“Given the powerful global forces driving the Australian economy, net immigration figures in excess of that low number are probably inescapable.
“Australia’s population by 2050 would still be expected to grow to about 29 million,” the Red Book said.
Treasury said that a population strategy must be “about investing in the right kinds of infrastructure and using existing infrastructure more efficiently,”
It added that urban problems such as congestion “result from fractured and ineffective governance arrangements” – a clear reflection on the multiplicity of local governments covering most major cities and the lack of coherent state government direction.
“To get cities right, existing impediments to the implementation of city strategic plans must be addressed.
“Governments must ensure better integration across relevant agencies and functions, with current failures in these areas imposing significant costs, delays and risk on aspiring home owners and undermining urban infill targets,”
“While these issues are primarily the responsibility of the States, the Australian Government could contribute and expedite reform through developing the National Urban Policy Reform Agenda, and implementing COAG’s Capital City Strategic Planning Systems and Housing Supply and Affordability Reform agenda,”
Treasury also recommended the abolition of stamp duty on housing and commercial property to ease urban pressures.
The Urban Taskforce’s chief executive Aaron Gadiel said Treasury’s assessment was refreshing and might bring a touch of realism back to policy debate and is a welcome dose of rationality.
“The challenges our cities face are not insoluble and nor do they require an end to urban growth.
“Treasury clearly understands the challenges Australia’s cities face and is armed with a reform agenda.
“Now is the time for the Federal Government to seize on this advice and make the changes necessary to re-invigorate our cities and prepare for future growth,” he added.
“States and local government should be prepared to co-operate in the implementation of this new national reform effort.
“The advice makes it clear that we need to be using our existing urban infrastructure more efficiently – that will require more apartments and commercial development around good transport services – and that there needs be a greater investment in new urban infrastructure – facilitating the outward growth of our cities,” Gadiel concluded.
Australian Property Journal
