Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Saturday 16th January 2010

Surprise, surprise, Bartlett fails to deliver on Land Tax rebate promise

The Premier and his hapless Treasurer have gone to ground over the latest in the long line of Labor Land Tax let-downs.

Last Monday, after the Government was forced to withdraw the 17-page mensa puzzle that the Treasurer called a rebate application, the Premier said that he would review the situation and streamline the process within 48 hours.

With the 48 hour deadline well and truly passed and the Premier, or at the very least the beleaguered Treasurer, should tell Tasmanians when they can expect a new, streamlined process to be ready.

The Treasurer and Premier are running out of excuses. They promised a rebate in December last year. The question is, can they deliver on their promise or not? And if so, when? It is completely unfair that businesses that have been stung by massive increases in Land Tax cannot get relief because the Premier and Treasurer rushed through their reforms without thinking them through.

What’s also unfair is that all other property owners such as retirees who rely on rental returns and are seeing in some cases as much as 50% of their total income eaten up by Land Tax are not eligible for any relief at all.

It just goes to show that Labor has made a complete mess of Land Tax, and it will take a Hodgman Liberal Government to fix the mess, make Land Tax fairer and simpler, then completely abolish it so Tasmanians will never have to suffer from massive Land Tax bills again.