Queensland bows to pressure from billionaire and delays land tax changes

The Queensland Government will postpone debate on the controversial changes to land tax legislation after a number of industry groups, and billionaire Gerry Harvey and Westfield boss Stephen Lowy, spoke out in protest this week.

The Government introduced the changes following a court case which changed the method of valuing unimproved land. While the Government says the changes will simply protect existing tax revenue, industry groups, including the Property Council, the Shopping Centre Council and the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry have warned the tax changes will increase the amount of land tax paid and reduce the value of land.

To make matters worse, the tax will be retrospective. Billionaire retail giant Gerry Harvey told The Australian the new tax was taking the state back several years.

“I don’t know how much it’s going to cost me, but what concerns me is the way they’re taking it back to 2002,” he said, adding he would want more information on how the tax would affect his stores.

“When I hear politicians talking about retrospective legislation, it gets a bit nasty – when they’re talking about eight years retrospective, it’s even nastier.”

The Property Council and Shopping Centre Council labelled the legislation as a “sneaky new business tax”, while AgForce chief executive Robert Walker said the tax would introduce a significant burden for farmers.

“AgForce is treating this matter extremely seriously as it has a significant impact to our rural members,” Walker said.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Urban Development institute of Australia have also opposed the tax, with opposition treasury spokesman Tim Nicholls slamming the legislation in a statement.

“Once again Anna Bligh’s new tax slug on businesses – on top of the fuel tax and electricity and car registration hikes – will put more Queenslanders on the unemployment line.”

However, while the Government has agreed to postpone Parliamentary debate on the land tax to hold further consultations with industry, it will only stop the changes if industry can provide specific examples of cost increases.