Brighter Communities and a Stronger Economy
The property industry touches all Queenslanders, which is why it’s important that political parties get behind the Property Council’s plan to deliver the housing, jobs and prosperity that support our Queensland way of life.
Brighter Communities and a Stronger Economy, the Property Council’s election advocacy agenda, outlines six clear, government-led initiatives to strengthen Queensland’s planning system and ensure a fair go for all Queensland taxpayers.
Planning
Great communities don’t just happen, they evolve from people with a vision and a plan for the future. Too often though, new areas take years to come to market because of endless red tape and slow decision making.
Much work has already been undertaken to improve our planning system over the past two years, however more needs to be done. The Property Council’s plan for Brighter Communities and a Stronger Economy identifies three actions that will streamline and simplify Queensland’s planning system to reduce the cost of new housing for all Queenslanders.
1. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF COUNCIL PLANNING LAWS. . .to ensure your property rights are protected.
Planning reform needs to ring true with local governments if it is to have any real impact. A key area of focus for future reform must be local government planning schemes. The fact is that these schemes are now excessively complex and this complexity adds time and cost to developing in Queensland.
Click here to find out more about our call for independent planning scheme reviews.
2. REGIONAL PLANS WITH A PURPOSE. . . to ensure you can choose where and how you want to live.
Over the past decade, successive regional plans have failed to live up to their potential. We have seen the primacy of the urban footprint eroded by other state government planning regulations, a disconnection from infrastructure planning and a failure to ensure implementation by local governments. All of this has resulted in industry and the community losing confidence in regional planning.
Click here to find out more about our strategy to revive regional planning in Queensland.
3. ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SETTING PLANNING RULES. . . to ensure it is simpler to make changes to your property, with decisions being made faster.
Queensland councils are a diverse group. Some have the resources and focus to deliver real change. Others do not. If planning reform is to succeed, funding and resourcing to assist local governments to deliver the on ground change is vital.
Click here to find out more about our plan to support councils implement planning reform.
Tax
Property related taxes, fees and charges affect everyone. And for too long, governments have been targeting property owners as an easy source of revenue.
The Government has made a positive decision to reverse previous stamp duty increases on the family home, but there are still too many extra costs being lumped on the property industry. The Property Council’s plan for Brighter Communities and a Stronger Economy identifies three actions that will make Queensland a better place to invest.
4. ESTABLISH A TAX REFORM ADVISORY COUNCIL. . . to ensure the national tax changes planned by the Federal Government deliver a fair result for Queensland.
Tax reform not only has the potential to unlock the next wave of productivity growth, but it can also strengthen the government’s fiscal position in the long-term by increasing the flow of investment into the state
Click here to find more about our strategy for tax reform in Queensland.
5. FAIRNESS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT RATING SYSTEMS. . . to ensure individual property owners pay their fair share of taxes.
Under Queensland’s Local Government Act, councils have the ability to establish different rating categories for different uses in their local government area. Used as intended, these powers ensure the rates burden is appropriately spread across the community. The problem is that this flexibility is now being widely abused by councils who are using the powers to target individual owners without justification.
Click here to find out more about how fairness can be brought back into council rates.
6. CONSISTENCY IN FEES AND CHARGES. . . to ensure the amount we are paying reflects the services we receive.
Many fees and charges in Queensland have increased to the point where they are significantly in excess of cost recovery. This makes Queensland a less competitive place to do business.
Click here to find out more about how government fees and charges could be brought back into line.
All candidates in the Queensland election have been provided copies of the Property Council’s Brighter Communities and a Stronger Economy strategy. And the leaders of the two major parties have been asked to respond to each of our 6 key agenda items.
Over the campaign we will be keeping members informed about the responses we receive to these critical items, as well as providing information on other relevant announcements made by the major political parties.