Dominic Perrottet has today refused to rule out expanding his forever tax to all homes in New South Wales, confirming what Labor has been saying all along – his first home buyers plan was the first step in introducing a land tax to every home in New South Wales.
In comments to the Daily Telegraph, the Premier refused to rule out further expanding his land tax to other home-owners if he is re-elected in March.
It follow remarks he made in June last year. He referred to his reform as ‘the start’, said ‘reform is a journey’, and ‘it’s pretty clear where I want to get to.’[1]
In August the Premier told media outlets that he’d like to extend his tax to pensioners. When he was then asked by Labor in Parliament to guarantee that he will not make pensioners pay the land tax, Mr Perrottet said ‘We might even do it before.. [the election].”[2]
As Treasurer, when he first signalled the introduction of a land tax, Mr Perrottet said: “What we’d like to see is about 80 percent of properties across the state have access to this scheme.” [3] And “we are proposing that all properties move to a property tax eventually.”[4]
NSW Shadow Treasurer Daniel Mookhey today warned that if Mr Perrottet is re-elected in March, he will see it as a green-light to introduce the broad-based land tax he has spent years campaigning for relentlessly.
“Leopards don’t change their spots. The Premier has been obsessed with introducing a land tax for years.
“His plan is to say what he must to get through the election, before he charges full-steam ahead and introduces a broad-based land tax.
“The fact that Mr Perrottet has again refused to rule-out extending his land tax even further shows that he will never give up on the plan he spent years fighting for.
“The only way to stop Mr Perrottet from going further is to stop Mr Perrottet from being re-elected.”
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[1] Dominic Perrottet Press Conference, 14 June 2022.
[2] NSW Parliamentary Hansard, Budget Esimates, 7 September 2022.
[3] Dominic Perrottet Press Conference, 17 November 2020.
[4] Dominic Perrottet quoted in online article, Daily Telegraph, 18 November 2020.
DANIEL MOOKHLEY MLC
NSW SHADOW TREASURER
