Land giveaway - who benefits?
Daniel Clode responds to my article (ANU Reporter, April 9) with an ideological
diatribe on the merits of private property ownership, when my point was
the price at which ACT public land assets should be privatised.
ACT land is publicly owned. That is a matter of fact, not ideology.
As with the Wik land grab by pastoralists, the debate is about whether
tenure over Crown land should be granted for less than market value.
My criticism of removing the 10 per cent fee for renewing commercial
leases rests on the fact that this effectively transfers rights over publicly
owned land to a small number of existing lessees for free.
The 10 per cent fee was charged for renewing leases with less than 15
years to run. It is an approximation of the full market price for paying
the government for a new lease 15 or 20 years before you need to.
The practice was introduced to provide security for financiers when loans
extended beyond the lifetime of the lease.
As these leases were sold for fixed terms, their market price reflected
that renewing the lease would cost an additional amount.
Easing this requirement increases the market value of these leases, an
unjustifiable gift to sitting owners of commercial and industrial leases.
Daniel Clode refers to "jobs and wealth that will now be created".
However, the resulting increase in commercial values does not increase
wealth, it just transfers it from the Crown - which owns the land - to private
leaseholders.
Nothing new is created. Increased privately owned wealth comes from reduced
publicly owned wealth.
Higher commercial values mean higher commercial rents. Such increases
in business costs reduce, not increase, jobs.
Those without Daniel Clode's ideological blinkers will thus see the debate
is not about the efficiency or otherwise of private ownership.
It is simply a question of cui bono? (who benefits?) from the giveaway
of land rights.
Julie Smith
Department of Economic History, RSSS
Landmine action day
Next Monday, May 26, is National Day of Action on Landmines.
Anti-personnel landmines are among the most indiscriminate of weapons.
More than 100 million mines have been laid in more than 70 countries and
another 100 million are stockpiled. Over 25,000 people are injured or killed
by landmines every year.
A seminar will be held at the ANU on Monday at 1pm in the John Dedman
Lecture Theatre to coincide with the National Day of Action.
For further information contact Lorraine Elliott in the Department of
Political Science on ext 0589, or Ian Buckley on 295 9543.
Lorraine Elliott
Department of Political Science |