Latest news with #JacintaAllan
The Age
12 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
Stamp duty changes could provide Suburban Rail Loop funding stream
Victoria's decision to end stamp duty on commercial properties and replace it with land tax could provide the funding stream the government is seeking to fund part of the $34.5 billion first stage of Suburban Rail Loop. Premier Jacinta Allan on Tuesday did not rule out her government carving out a portion of existing tax revenue to help pay for the project. On Tuesday, The Age reported the government was considering whether to carve off a share of stamp duty and land taxes collected from precincts around stations across the 1.6-kilometre first stage – Suburban Rail Loop East – which would be used to pay for the project, a concept known as hypothecation. Since a business and investment case for the rail loop was first released in 2021, the state government has maintained it can fund a third of the $34.5 billion first stage through value capture – charges or fees on the increased property values generated by a capital works project. Some value-capture proposals floated in this document were due to begin by this year and focused on additional taxes. The state government is still finalising what options it will proceed with and how they will be implemented. Dr David Hayward, RMIT emeritus professor of public policy and the social economy, said one key option available to the government was to harness its recent changes to commercial stamp duty. Loading Under changes that took effect on July 1, 2024, the government is phasing out stamp duty for commercial and industrial properties and replacing it with an annual land tax, set at 1 per cent of the property's unimproved land value Hayward said this automatically created a potential source of value capture within SRL precincts because land taxes would naturally increase alongside the value of commercial properties held around the stations.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Stamp duty changes could provide Suburban Rail Loop funding stream
Victoria's decision to end stamp duty on commercial properties and replace it with land tax could provide the funding stream the government is seeking to fund part of the $34.5 billion first stage of Suburban Rail Loop. Premier Jacinta Allan on Tuesday did not rule out her government carving out a portion of existing tax revenue to help pay for the project. On Tuesday, The Age reported the government was considering whether to carve off a share of stamp duty and land taxes collected from precincts around stations across the 1.6-kilometre first stage – Suburban Rail Loop East – which would be used to pay for the project, a concept known as hypothecation. Since a business and investment case for the rail loop was first released in 2021, the state government has maintained it can fund a third of the $34.5 billion first stage through value capture – charges or fees on the increased property values generated by a capital works project. Some value-capture proposals floated in this document were due to begin by this year and focused on additional taxes. The state government is still finalising what options it will proceed with and how they will be implemented. Dr David Hayward, RMIT emeritus professor of public policy and the social economy, said one key option available to the government was to harness its recent changes to commercial stamp duty. Loading Under changes that took effect on July 1, 2024, the government is phasing out stamp duty for commercial and industrial properties and replacing it with an annual land tax, set at 1 per cent of the property's unimproved land value Hayward said this automatically created a potential source of value capture within SRL precincts because land taxes would naturally increase alongside the value of commercial properties held around the stations.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Toughest' bail laws in land to target repeat offenders
Bailed crooks who commit serious crimes will find it "almost impossible" to keep their freedom under new laws. The Victorian government will introduce its second package of bail reforms to parliament on Tuesday, amid rising crime rates. These changes include a new bail test for people accused of repeat, serious offending and a "second strike" rule for those charged with further offending. "We are making it very clear to bail decision-makers across the system that in Victoria community safety comes first," Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters. "Victorians remain not just concerned but disgusted with what we are seeing with repeat offending." Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny described the bail test, for people accused of one of six offences while on bail, as the "toughest" in the nation. The offences covered are aggravated home invasion, aggravated carjacking, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, home invasion and carjacking. Bail must be refused unless the decision maker is satisfied there is a "high degree of probability" the person won't reoffend. Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the test went further than NSW laws as it was not time limited and didn't just apply to young people. "Your chances of getting bail are almost impossible," he said. The "second strike" rule will also make it harder people to get bail if accused of repeat indictable offending such as burglary, theft, assault, robbery, sex offences and serious drug offences. Ms Kilkenny said low-level drug possession, petty theft and crimes driven by poverty and homelessness would be carved out to mitigate disproportionate impact on vulnerable people. But she made it clear those offenders would still face a bail hearing. The legislation's default start date is March 30, 2026 but the attorney expects the laws to come into effect "as soon as system capacity permits and it's safe to do so". Victoria tightened bail laws in 2018 after James Gargasoulas drove into Melbourne's busy Bourke Street Mall in 2017 while on bail, killing six people and injuring dozens more. A coronial inquest into the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson in 2020 found the changes were a "complete and unmitigated disaster", sparking a relaxation of laws in 2024. Ms Allan conceded the government "got it wrong" and vowed a crackdown on repeat serious offenders. Its first law changes removed the principle of remand as a last resort for children, made community safety an overarching principle for bail decisions and reintroduced bail offences. Victoria's latest crime statistics, which showed youth offending at a record high, were collected before the harsher bail laws were rolled out. But figures released by the justice department in mid June showed the number of youths being held on remand had doubled since the changes took effect in late March.
Sydney Morning Herald
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Premier labels pro-Palestine protesters who rallied at NGV ‘extremists' and ‘antisemitic'
Premier Jacinta Allan has labelled pro-Palestine protesters who rallied outside the National Gallery of Victoria on Sunday as 'extremists' who brought antisemitism to the streets of Melbourne. The demonstrators are believed to have targeted the gallery, which was forced into lockdown, because of donations its received from well-known Jewish philanthropists John and Pauline Gandel. Hundreds of activists marched through the city to the NGV on Sunday afternoon, and one witness reported being yelled at by protesters and accused of supporting Zionism and genocide by entering the gallery. On Tuesday morning, Allan condemned the protest and said the demonstrators were shameful and 'cloaking their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East'. Loading 'Victorians are blessed to have the generosity of philanthropic generosity from families like the Gandels,' she said. 'That generosity, that philanthropy enriches us all, and that behaviour we saw where antisemitism came to the street on the National Gallery was just disgraceful. 'It is shameful behaviour and I condemn it because the generosity of the Gandels, it's enriched my family. 'Those people who choose to cloak their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East are shameful and should be condemned.'
The Age
20 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
Premier labels pro-Palestine protesters who rallied at NGV ‘extremists' and ‘antisemitic'
Premier Jacinta Allan has labelled pro-Palestine protesters who rallied outside the National Gallery of Victoria on Sunday as 'extremists' who brought antisemitism to the streets of Melbourne. The demonstrators are believed to have targeted the gallery, which was forced into lockdown, because of donations its received from well-known Jewish philanthropists John and Pauline Gandel. Hundreds of activists marched through the city to the NGV on Sunday afternoon, and one witness reported being yelled at by protesters and accused of supporting Zionism and genocide by entering the gallery. On Tuesday morning, Allan condemned the protest and said the demonstrators were shameful and 'cloaking their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East'. Loading 'Victorians are blessed to have the generosity of philanthropic generosity from families like the Gandels,' she said. 'That generosity, that philanthropy enriches us all, and that behaviour we saw where antisemitism came to the street on the National Gallery was just disgraceful. 'It is shameful behaviour and I condemn it because the generosity of the Gandels, it's enriched my family. 'Those people who choose to cloak their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East are shameful and should be condemned.'
