Queensland policy favouring owner occupiers, investors
Curtis Pitt, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, supports an efficient fairer tax system.
In the submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics he said Queensland government policies offer significant advantages to owner-occupiers over investors and investors receive tax advantages through the income tax and transfer system.
The Queensland Government has promised to introduce a new planning bill into parliament by October 2015.
"It is anticipated the new planning system will reduce development costs by reducing complexity and duplication and providing greater certainty, both to the community and industry.
"This includes simplifying the state planning hierarchy from four state instruments to two; simplifying the rules for assessment decisions; better processes for plan making, removing step by step detail from the legislation, allowing local government to be more flexible and innovative in their processes and engagement; and replacing the planning provisions with more focused standard requirements for planning schemes, improving consistency and reducing complexity."
The new planning system promises to be more transparent by removing Ministerial discretion, enhancing public reporting and by ensuring that all publicly notified application continue to attract third party appeal rights.
"The Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning is currently undertaking a review of the South East Queensland (SEQ) Regional Plan in concert with local government. A key focus of this plan will be ensuring sufficient sites are identified to ensure the supply of housing can expand to meet the needs of a growing population.
"The Queensland government has committed to establishing an independent statutory body Building Queensland, to provide the government with expert advice on infrastructure projects, based on rigorous business cases including cost-benefit analysis and assessment of community benefits.
"This should enable more efficient land use and reduce the costs of providing new housing and the associated economic and social infrastructure.
"The Queensland government has identified housing affordability as one of the priority issues for analysis by the new Queensland Productivity Commission. The issue will be added to the forward work program so that a comprehensive analysis of the Queensland-specific factors can be made."
The MP also encouraged the inquiry to look into Indigenous home ownership.
"In Australia only 29% of Indigenous people owned their own home in 2008. Ownership rates for Indigenous people were significantly lower in remote and very remote areas (8%) than in major cities (38%)."
In the submission to the Inquiry into Home Ownership, Curtis Pitt has observed that home ownership in Queensland has decreased from approximately 70% in 1994-95 to 65% in 2011-12.
"Total dwelling approvals have increased significantly in Queensland in recent years. They have risen by 64% between December 2011 and April 2015. However this is still below the levels reached in 2007-08.
"In recent years Brisbane residential prices have not increased as strongly as other markets, with house prices in the last five years increasing on average less than inflation. Brisbane house prices have become relatively more affordable.
The Queensland Government asserted it will work with the Federal Government to implement policies, which will improve housing outcomes in Queensland.