Retired surgeon and holiday home owner John Hanrahan intends to keep up the pressure on the state government over its land tax scheme, following the protest he organised at Parliament House this week.
Mr Hanrahan estimated the lively protest attracted up to 750 people to the steps of parliament and said community speakers called for a drastic cut in land tax rates and the abolishment of aggregation, which they believed was discriminating against investors with more than one property and forcing up rents.
Calls for the complete abolishment of the tax were also made.
“We had holiday retiree property owners speak who have had these properties in their families for decades, who because of rising values, have had to pay bills of up to $20,000 which they can’t afford” Mr Hanrahan told WA Business News.
“It’s the little people who are being hurt by this unfair tax…the scheme must be substantially restructured.”
Before the protest began, treasurer Eric Ripper said he supported tax cuts and the government was reviewing land tax thresholds and scales as part of the State Tax Review in the lead up to the May budget.
He said any tax cuts in the forthcoming budget would be balanced against the need to deliver services, build infrastructure and pay fair wages to teachers, nurses and police.
“Neither the Business Tax Review, nor the current State Tax Review interim report, have considered abolition of land tax to be a viable option,” Mr Hanrahan said.
Weighing into the debate, the Property Council of Australia (WA) said the best way to tackle the immediate land tax problem in WA was to place a ceiling on the annual increase in land tax assessments as well as levying the tax on a single property basis.
“This will not soften the discriminatory impact of land tax on people with cash-flow problems who are forced to sell properties because they can not afford the tax,” executive director Joe Lenzo said.
