Many Australians would still agree with Dr Sun Yat-Sen抯 observations. The history of Australian land value taxation and rating of land values for municipal and public utility financing is valuable for at least three reasons.
1. It shows that site or bare land values can be assessed and taxed, contrary to assertions sometimes made by economic writers unfamiliar with the subject.
2. It shows that land values as tax base can be shared, with any need for explicit co-ordination, between Federal, States, local government and semi-government public utilities
3. It shows that public utilities can be financed without 100 per cent resort to na飗e 搖ser pays?charging per kl of water or per kl of electricity and that deadweight losses due to usage charges being well in excess of short run marginal cost (SRMC) can be avoided.
4. Finally, the Australian experience shows that good systems of revenue raising for public works or public utilities can be corrupted or abandoned due to ignorance of officials and politicians when faced with demands for 搑eforms?promoted by vested landholder interests seeking to shift revenue burdens off land onto workers or producers.
The history of Australian use of land value taxation or land value rating to finance public works has several sources.
