Corridors of Power – 14 July 2015

Corridors of Power – 14 July 2015Premiers prepare for special retreat with the PM, Budget day for the Queensland Government and the Greens put forward harmful housing proposal in NSW. Stay up to date with all the latest government developments affecting the property industry here each week.Next week the special COAG retreat will kick off with the Prime Minister and State and Territory leaders. The retreat will focus will on the long-term reform of the Federation and tax system. The Property Council has been a strong and consistent advocate for tax reform calling for the abolition of stamp duty and replacing it with a fairer tax mix. It seems Australians agree based on the polling we released on Monday. In anticipation of the retreat South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill (pictured) last week sprinted from the blocks to propose four key reform proposals around education, health, transport and housing. On the back of Premier Weatherill’s sortie, NSW Premier Mike Baird said on Monday: “I have repeatedly made clear the government’s willingness to look at fundamental reform of stamp duty in the context of broader reform of federal-state financial relations.”Today the Queensland Government will deliver its first budget. The Property Council has called for Queensland to adopt the “unsolicited proposals” framework that’s been successfully used in NSW and Victoria in order to allow infrastructure to be put forward by the private sector to deliver key projects. In NSW, the Greens have put forward a proposal to cap rents by legislating the link between rents and inflation. It’s a proposal that the Property Council has roundly criticised as it would actually have the opposite effect by drying up supply and increasing rents overall. The solution to housing affordability is through creating more supply, efficient planning and eradicating excessive and inefficient taxes like stamp duty. Finally, dire new unemployment statistics in South Australia led business to call for the government to do more to stimulate economic activity and job creation.