Housing affordability
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (13:05): The state Labor government’s property taxes are the biggest imposition on housing cost. Last week the Centre for International Economics’ Taxation of the Housing Sector found that regulatory costs, statutory charges and infrastructure charges in Melbourne make up 43 per cent of housing costs. This was reinforced by the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s finding that Victoria leads the nation in tax collection, totalling $39.2 billion, land tax accounting for 13.4 per cent of Victoria’s revenue and stamp duty 22.5 per cent.