THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 25 #41 Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 23,000 copies every week
BONUS SUPPLEMENT Your Sustainable Community 2011 inserted in this week’s Echo www.yoursustainablecommunity.net
ARGUE OR CUDDLE WITH ME – IT ’S YOUR CHOICE
Empty mansions are ‘on-shore tax havens’
Harmony celebrated
Echo Forum hears need for tax reform and local action on affordable housing Ray Moynihan
Isabelle and Fleur from Mullumbimby St John’s primary school get along nicely, unlike some politicians (see below). ‘Harmony Day is celebrated on March 21 every year,’ school principal, Mr Tim Bleakley said. ‘Our students will learn that not only do they share common ground with other cultures, but also that our differences make Australia a special place. The most important lesson they will learn today is that in Australia, everyone belongs.’ Photo supplied
Justine Elliot and Don Page argue over failed health funding in Byron Shire Hans Lovejoy
Federal Labor’s Justine Elliot has hit out at state MP Don Page and asked to explain what policies he can deliver on health services. ‘With only a week to go until the State election, many locals have raised with me concerns that Don Page and Barry O’Farrell have failed to outline their specific commitments for our local hospitals. ‘I call upon Don Page to detail what funding commitments he has secured for the North Coast. ‘In particular, will he commit funding for the new Ewingsdale hospital? ‘Also, what funding has he secured for Byron and Mullumbimby hospitals?
‘On top of their lack of policies, the biggest threat is that Don Page’s leader Barry O’Farrell will renege on the health agreement between the federal government and the Ssates. ‘This landmark agreement will provide $16.4 billion in new funding for hospitals and healthcare across the nation. ‘Don Page needs to come clean and tell us what his party intends to do.’
$1m in planning needed In response, Mr Page told The Echo, ‘The applications for funding are made by the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS). ‘The NCAHS has to have detailed planning in place so that the Central
Australia’s leading advocate for affordable housing, Professor Julian Disney, called for major changes to the way houses are taxed at a forum in Byron last week attended by over 200 people. Professor Disney told the forum, ‘excessively generous’ tax concessions meant houses were increasingly seen as speculative investments rather than places to live, with very expensive mansions becoming ‘on-shore tax havens’ which sucked resources away from more productive investments. He called for changes to the negative gearing concessions for investment properties, reform to land or capital gains taxes for very high-cost houses, and a reduction in stamp duty, arguing the current system reinforced inherited inequality creating a ‘huge divide’ between those who’ve been lucky with housing and those who haven’t. The forum also heard firsthand experiences of the affordability crisis, including from Blackbirds singer Renee Simone, who was forced to leave the insecurity of Byron’s rental market
to find an affordable property close to Lismore. ‘I didn’t want my child growing up in a garage,’ she told The Echo. Chair of the National Housing Affordability Summit, Professor Disney urged local councils to create not-for-profit companies to work with developers to build genuinely affordable housing, which could offer people the security of long-term rental leases, virtually unheard of in Australia, though extremely common in Europe. Also at the forum Byron Community Centre general manager Paul Spooner launched a new campaign called ‘One Year, One House’ which aims to garner community support to build at least one affordable house in Byron in the coming twelve months. Another group, Transition Byron, said they were actively seeking possible locations and developing plans for housing that was both affordable and sustainable. Ray Moynihan chaired The Echo’s forum, and Mandy Nolan will host the next one: ‘Are we failing our kids?’, April 28. See more on the topic on page 12
Byron Shire Hospital can be eligible for funding under the new federal/ state arrangements. ‘Accordingly, the Coalition has committed to $1m planning money needed to enable this project to proceed. ‘The Coalition will provide 1,500 extra beds in the health system and an extra 2475 nurses which will help all hospitals including Mullumbimby and Byron Bay. ‘The redevelopment of Byron Bay Hospital was done under the last Coalition government. ‘Justine Elliot is the last person who should be talking about health in Byron Shire – neither state Labor nor Professor Julian Disney is urging councils to create not-for-profit companies federal Labor have done anything to to work with developers to build genuinely affordable housing. Such practice is common in Europe, he says. Photo Eve Jeffery assist with hospitals in Byron Shire.’
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