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July 30, 2003
Misrepresentation in the Media
The Daily Telegraph (a local Sydney paper) is running a fantastic front page picture of the premier's new holiday cottage (or the view from the cottage). Personally I wish I could earn as much as he does (close to $AU250,000 including electoral benefits) and if I did, then I too could afford to buy a holiday retreat somewhere like Queenstown New Zealand (hmmm, there was a story yesterday about Queenstown, NZ copying the Sydney gay mardi gras .... ).
BUT the thrust of the story is that Bob (that's the premier) won't have to pay stamp duty in NZ. Equally he wouldn't have to pay it in many other places as well. The paper (or the owner) has decided to push the issue of stamp duty for all it is worth. For those who don't know about this antiquated system, it involves a 'fee' for 'stamping' (or certifying) documents or a legal nature that are transferred between parties. There are small fees for some documents but when it comes to buying land, the amounts are enourmous. Of course, no stamps are actually used. The amount is assessed and passed straight to the state government in the form of revenue. What makes this particularly attractive in NSW is the rapidly rising prices of real estate in Sydney. For example, a small two bedroom unit in reasonable condition in Randwick (where I live) will set you back between $AU400K and $AU500K depending on location.
Back to the story. Given the property market in Sydney, it would be nice to retire somewhere else and buying 5 - 10 acres of nice country estate would be a good idea. You would consider things like climate, environment, access, planning controls and so on. The last thing in your mind would be the cost of teh stamp duty (a whole $10K extra on a $350K price tag is just icing on the cake).
I am not saying that stamp duty is good - it is bad. The state labour government has been living high on the real estate boom and the whole thing will come crashing down. Instead of controlling spending and investing wisely, they are flogging assets and dead horses side by side while waffling about budget surpluses. What I am complaining about is that this story is a load of old codgers. The stamp duty had nothing to do with it. You might as well suggest he bought the house in New Zealand because he knew the All Blacks were going to thrash Australia in the Rugby :-)
Now, when it comes to media - you have to know who to trust. If you want an unbiased opinion, just come and ask me :wink and I will misdirect you happily. In the case of the Daily Telegraph that whole story was both deceitful and silly.
Full article quoted in extended entry but please use the link if available.
Quoted from the Daily Telegraph:
Carr's Kiwi escape
By DAVID PENBERTHY
30jul03
PREMIER Bob Carr and his wife Helena have bought a spectacular $330,000 getaway in New Zealand's world-famous wine and wilderness country – and will not pay a cent in stamp duty.
The 3.3ha parcel of land is in the South Island at the exclusive Mt Rosa Station and Estate Winery, about 30km south of Queenstown in the breathtaking Gibbston Valley.
Because New Zealand has no stamp duty, the Carrs have saved themselves more than $10,000 in state taxes on a comparable property in NSW.
Mr Carr settled on the property in May, paying $NZ375,000 ($331,977), and plans to build a house there.
Had the purchase been made on land in NSW, Mr Carr would have had to pay $10,340 in stamp duty to his own Government.
Mr Carr has done nothing untoward in buying the property and has satisfied the disclosure requirements of State Parliament in declaring the purchase on his pecuniary interests register.
But the purchase, full details of which were confirmed by The Daily Telegraph yesterday, comes as Sydney is gripped by disbelief at upwardly spiralling property prices and the Government's failure to deliver any relief on stamp duty.
Mr Carr is in the US on a study tour and could not be contacted for comment, but sources close to the Premier said the purchase had nothing to do with dodging stamp duty.
Opposition deputy leader Barry O'Farrell said Mr Carr had deliberately looked for "the best investment or retirement option outside of Australia". "This is Bob Carr's Shangri-La," he said. "Stamp duty has been scrapped in New Zealand, and Bob Carr is cashing in."
Mr O'Farrell also used the purchase to rekindle speculation about Mr Carr's plans for life after politics, despite his recent reassurance that he will run again in 2007 and may stay on as Premier until 2011.
He said the buy constituted "an exit strategy" and raised questions about Mr Carr's determination to stay on.
However, sources close to the Premier dismissed all suggestions that the property was a retirement plan, saying he was not planning to retire in New Zealand, but rather on using Mt Rosa as a holiday destination.
Mr and Mrs Carr are keen bushwalkers and on several visits have fallen in love with the Queenstown-Otago region, famous as an outdoors destination and known for its power-boating, canoeing, and the invention of bungee-jumping.
The Carrs were last in New Zealand in June, when the Premier was a keynote speaker at a conference at the University of Otago.
They visited the land with friend and national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Dick Allen.
Locals in Bob Carr's original retirement choices – Orange, Port Macquarie and Albury – were not too upset by his change of mind.
"He's giving up the chance to live in God's country," Orange mayor John Miller said yesterday. "I am sure the people of Orange will still prosper and quickly move on."
In Port Macquarie, the Premier's decision was met with concern. Hastings acting mayor Rob Drew said: "This is the best place in the world, it's heaven on Earth . . . but we are very selective in the people we let in up here."
Posted by Ozguru at July 30, 2003 08:07 PM
