Australia Institute research shows that the Marshall Government should heed the call of the South Australian Council of Social Services and delay the introduction of their tax cut for property investors.

“With the state facing a growing revenue shortfall, which puts the funding of public services like health and education under strain, the tax cut for wealthy property investors should either be delayed or dropped altogether,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA projects manager at The Australia Institute.

“Recent state based tax cuts, combined with a write down in GST revenue from the Commonwealth, paint a difficult budgetary picture for South Australia. This is not the time to implement tax cuts for property investors, especially while funding for public services is being reduced.

“When it comes to budget priorities, Australia Institute research shows voters overwhelmingly think there are many better ways to create jobs and drive investment in SA than cutting land tax for more expensive properties.

“Almost two in three South Australians (63%) believe that public funding for health and education is a better way to boost the state’s economy than a cut to the land tax being paid by investors.

“Based on our research, further cuts for public services in the Marshall Government’s next Budget will not go down well with the electorate. The common sense approach would be to improve the state’s budgetary bottom line by delaying, or scrapping, its planned cuts to land tax for property investors.”