u/Downtown-Relation766

Hello fellow Victorians,

If you’re in this sub, you likely recognise that the capture of economic rent is essential for a just and efficient society. While we may differ on the specific "flavour" of Georgism we subscribe to, we share a common goal: shifting the tax burden away from production and onto land values.

With the November election approaching, we are facing a clear divergence in policy. Current polling suggests a strong possibility of a Coalition (Liberal/National) or One Nation-influenced victory. From a Georgist perspective, their proposed platforms are alarming:

• Erosion of LVT: The LNP's commitment to raise the land tax threshold from $50k to $300k directly undermines the principle of capturing land rent.
• Abolishing the ESL: While the Emergency Services Levy isn't a perfect LVT, it provides a broad-based property tax framework that could have been evolved into a full LVT.
• Negative Externalities: Their push to remove the ban on gas appliances ignores the cost of carbon externalities that the public eventually pays for.
• One Nation’s Stance: Their explicit goal to "wind back" land value tax and windfall gains tax is a direct attack on the nationalization of economic rent.

In contrast, while not "pure" Georgists, the Victorian Labor party has demonstrated a consistent, proactive trend toward our vision:

1. Stamp Duty Reform: The 2024 start of the  transition of commercial  property transfer tax to LVT is a massive win.
2. Price Stabilization: Increased LVT post-COVID has correlated with a flattening of land prices compared to the spikes seen in Sydney and elsewhere.
3. Vacant Land Tax: While imperfect, the vacant residential land tax is a crucial step in deterring land speculation.
4. Broad based property tax: The emergency services levy isn't the ideal LVT, but it's
5. Windfall Gains Tax: This captures community-created wealth from rezoning and discourages insider speculation.
6. SRL Financing: Their commitment to fund 1/3 of the Suburban Rail Loop via land value capture is an ambitious application of Georgist principles at scale.
7. Congestion levy: This is a tax on inner city parking lots, serving as a quasi congestion levy.

Because of this, I’ve decided to join and vote for the Labor party. I view them as the only viable vehicle for continuing the trajectory toward a more just and efficient allocation of resources.

I encourage you all to consider how you can support a Labor victory—whether through donations, volunteering for local candidates, or simply talking to friends and family about why LVT matters. If we don't act, we risk setting our progress back by decades.

>!For transparency, I used Claude and Gemma to improve my delivery after writing my initial message. The substance/knowledge is my own, and I proof read and made changes of my own after the outputs.!<