Bundaberg Regional Council Rate Rise:
In a move straight out of the Communist Manifesto, Bundaberg Regional Council (BRC) has gone after mum-and-pop investors — the very people providing homes for renters in the middle of a housing and cost-of-living crisis.
The sentiment from the Bundaberg Regional (Communists) Council seems to be: if you can afford to own a property you don’t live in, you can afford to cough up more cash.
You’d think councillors might be grateful to those Aussies offering accommodation to local renters and tourists, doing their bit for the local economy — but no, apparently they’re just the filthy rich who need to be squeezed for cash.
Helen Blackburn laid it out: “Airbnb is a business, and businesses have to pay their way.” Well, in Australia, businesses employ approximately 12 of the 14 million working Australians and contribute over 80 per cent of the country’s final economic output. I’d say they contribute more to society than those with their hands in other people’s wallets.
In the crosshairs?
Pensioners and retirees who’ve moved into aged care but held onto the family home — now no longer classed as a principal place of residence. Time to cough up!
Or how about farmers and locals whose only “capitalist crime” is holding their property in a trust or company structure? Plenty of family farms fall into that basket, and now they’re caught up in this diabolical dragnet, thanks to a bunch of councillors who either didn’t think it through — or worse, didn’t care.
This grubby cash grab means investment property owners are being slapped with an extra 10% rate hike — on top of the already steep 6.49% general increase. That’s a thumping 16.49% total hit.
So instead of backing the people actually putting roofs over heads, the council’s giving them a full-blown boot to the guts.
With interest rate pressure already smashing plenty of locals, some investors might cop the blow and move on. Others, though, won’t have a choice but to pass the pain on — straight to renters. It’s clear the council’s got an axe to grind with anyone who doesn’t live in the home they own.
That’s how they’ve drawn the line: if it’s your principal place of residence, you get the soft touch — a 6.49% hike. But if it’s not, brace yourself for the big boot — 16.49% and rising.
Feels less like a fair rates policy… and more like an old-fashioned mob shakedown.
Cr Keslake said “investors are able to claim tax deductions against the revenue earned from rental and short term accommodation properties”.
Big deal. Should they be punished?
What about owners who don’t claim a deduction, like elderly locals in aged care who still own a property or struggling first home owners who scraped enough money together to simply buy a vacant block of land for the future. This cash heist of a budget was adopted with a majority vote.
Here is an Honors list of local representatives who voted against it.
Thank you to Bill Trevor, Jason Bartels, Tracey McPhee, and John Learmonth. Our gratitude extends to you for taking the time to consider and reject the short-term grab, having the foresight and economic intelligence to respect the laws of supply and demand and back your local battlers who are out there having a go.
Written by John E Middleclass.
August 2025