BY AMY HUME
THE financial fate of thousands of landowners across Victoria now lies behind the closed doors of a Dispute Resolution Committee of the State Parliament.The committee is attempting to revive the Growth Area Infrastructure Contribution (GAIC) bill that was defeated in the Upper House of Parliament in February and will see the sale of properties on Melbourne’s fringes trigger a tax of $95,000 per hectare.The resurrection of the bill follows the announcement that Victorian Premier John Brumby had struck a secret GAIC deal with developers in March without meeting a single affected landowner.
Summerhill Road residents in Craigieburn are demanding answers and fear for their financial security.
"The Government act like we don’t exist and we’re only here when we need to pay taxes," Craigieburn landowner Rennie Darminin said."It’s a very sad situation that we’ve got here. Time is running out for us and we are being kept in limbo.
"They are getting revenue from people who work hard."
Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy said the Liberal/Nationals Coalition will not support a GAIC tax, and the extension of the Urban Growth Boundary, unless the government’s GAIC proposal wins approval from landowners."The only fair way to levy a GAIC tax is for 100 per cent of the tax to be paid when the land is actually developed," Chairman of lobby group Taxed Out Michael Hocking said.
"Insiders have indicated that a 10 hectare minimum land area will be introduced but increasing the minimum land size will not solve the problems and will only serve to further distort the market," he said.
Mr Hocking said if a 10 hectare minimum was introduced the sale of a property just under 10 hectares would trigger no tax, while the sale of a property just over 10 hectares would trigger a tax liability of almost $1 million.
Craigieburn landowners Anna and Abostino Billeei believe the GAIC tax is stripping landowners of everything they’ve worked for.
"We’re working class people, we’ve done everything the hard way. It is the poorer people who have to pay," Ms Billeei said."At the end of the day we are being crucified for working a little bit harder than normal."
Matthew Jackson has three young girls under the age of ten and is concerned about the family’s financial future.
"We didn’t get this land for free and now we have to pay more taxes on top of that," Mr Jackson said."We should sell now to save ourselves the headache but no one is interested in purchasing the land because they’re unsure of what will happen to it."
His neighbour Dominic Garafailo has had his property on the market for two years and hasn’t been able to sell.
Mr Garafailo bought his land in 1985 for hobby farming but after his wife fell ill he has been caring for her for the past seven years and now faces the possibility of land taxes he can’t afford.
Like many landowners across Victoria, Summerhill Road residents are left with no option but to anxiously await the outcome.
