Queensland land tax: Media Watch’s false impression on Queensland land tax coverage

Viewers of the ABC’s Media Watch on Monday night were given the impression that The Australian Financial Review’s coverage of the Queensland government’s now-abandoned land tax changes fell in with the interests of rich landlords and the property sector rather than with renters.

This rested on the left-wing Guardian Australia and left-wing academic economist (and former Financial Review columnist) John Quiggin.

Media Watch didn’t properly explain the proposed tax change, which would have taxed non-resident investors in Queensland property more heavily if they owned property in other parts of Australia.

It also ignored the prominent views to the contrary from one of Australia’s leading tax economists, Robert Breunig, director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Australian National University.

In an op-ed column in the Financial Review posted on Sunday, Professor Breunig described this populist “eat the rich” tax as: “A tax that inclines property investors to take their money out, or not put their money into, Queensland.