Outrider

All tax is a wealth tax, obviously.

Are you saying that wealth is a bad thing for society?

John McRobert,

Misevaluation of land is potentially a very big problem, but it's not unsolvable. What's needed is a transparent independent process (including the right of appeal).

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Jardine,

"All tax is a wealth tax, obviously."
What seems obvious isn't the same as what's true. Many taxes aren't wealth taxes at all. For example the GST is not a wealth tax.

"Are you saying that wealth is a bad thing for society?"
When wealth results in those who don't have it being excluded, it certainly can be.

But the objective of land tax (other than to raise revenue) isn't to destroy its value, but merely to slow down the increase in its value. It must be phased in slowly to avoid unfairly disadvantaging those who've just bought land.

How much of every article do you think should be devoted to definitions?

But if you like, I'll have a go at defining the appropriate rate of land tax:
More than 1% of unimproved property value per year.
Less than 5% of unimproved property value per year.
Not rising more than 0.1% of unimproved property value per year (except when combined with measures such as abolition of GST).

As for your complaint that it doesn't define the State, perhaps that's because it doesn't actually mention "the State", though it mentions specific states and state governments in general.

Income tax reduces the incentive for people to earn and hence contribute to the economy.
Wealth tax, such as land taxes, catches those people who have amassed a fortune but do nothing with it it

ttbn, every time i see a local or state politician all they ever announce is how much money they are going to waste & then they wonder why we hate them.

Aidan, why do you want to create more poverty for the workers by destroying more jobs with a high debt economy?

Rhosty, why is there no mention of spending cuts or the planned obsolescence designed into ALL of the public sector? i have seen public housing deliberately designed to create jobs for gardeners, maintenance men & fall apart quickly so that the building can be bull dozed & replaced with another CFMEU job creation scheme.

John McRobert, the spending would not keep rising if they did not continue to bring in dead beat UN-productive migrants.

Jardine K Jardine, read my comment above about planned obsolescence on the spending side.

Outrider, why don't you want the workers to have affordable housing?

Jardine K Jardine, he just wants workers to be poor.

Aidan, why do you want to create MORE poverty for Aussie workers?

Outrider, people who own assets make money out of it & pay tax when they earn & spend it. Why are you so desperate for the land of OZ to be bankrupt?

Good article, Karl Fitzgerald! Naysayers here seem to be entirely disregarding that Australians have become more invested into making money out of real estate than in the real economy. Surely, what has occurred in the US, Ireland (and Europe in general) show this has to end badly? ALL the recent tax studies indicate land tax is the most efficient because it doesn't carry the deadweight of other taxes. It's patently fair, because the wealthy own more valuable land than others and, moreover, is the only tax that can't be avoided. Oh, "can't be avoided"? Maybe that's why people reject what is clearly the fairest and most efficient tax of all?

Jardine, please define 'define'.
The other definitions you seem to think are necessary are mostly in the Reports referred to. Read the Treasury paper. That might help you understand efficiency, and net benefit. Do you really need the State defined, or the public interest. Most intelligent people have an understanding of them, so your post looks like a troll.
And what a grand idea you post in jest. If we tax the value of land 100%, land would have no price, so there would be no incentive to hoard it, or to speculate in it. People could get use of it, subject to that fee you propose, and use it for production. A radical idea, supporting initiative and enterprise, I know, Jardine, but I do believe you've got it.. You just don't know what you've got.
A thoughtful article, requiring an open mind to consider some of the concepts. More please?