How Government Milks Property

There are many reasons why housing is so expensive in Australia, but there is one major reason that over-rides all the others: politicians keep adding to the cost. Housing is ridiculously expensive in this country and keeps becoming more so, because all three levels of government treat the housing industry as a cash cow. They love to milk the housing industry for revenue – and are adept at finding new and innovative ways to create new taxes, fees and charges – or increase the existing ones. Politicians think they can do this with little electoral risk because, as they see it, they are slugging property developers, builders and investors with the tax hikes – and nobody cares about them, right? But the reality is that, ultimately, it’s home buyers who pay – including first-home buyers.