Wednesday, 16 October 2024

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:57): (1160) My question is for the Treasurer, and I am delighted to ask it today as it is one of the few days that the Treasurer is actually in this country. I hope that he can answer this question before he takes off again. As more and more of my constituents receive their land tax bills for 2024, they are discovering the impact of this government’s decision to increase land tax. I am sure that people on both sides of this chamber are getting calls, as I am. Several constituents have contacted my office in response to these outrageous land tax hikes and the lowering of the tax threshold. One business has seen their land tax increase by 350 per cent since last year, taking their bill from $23,000 to over $100,000 in this year. Despite the cash grab being organised under the pretext of a COVID debt repayment plan to alleviate the debt racked up by this state government in response to COVID, it is completely unfair. So my question to the Treasurer is: why should my constituents be paying exorbitant land tax fees until 2033 to pay back your government’s COVID debt?