WHILE there was widespread relief following the defeat of the State Government's proposed growth areas tax, Wyndham landowners fear it's not dead and buried yet.
Under the proposed legislation, those who purchased properties inside an expanded urban growth boundary
around Melbourne's fringe were to
be slugged $95,000 a hectare when selling land.
Affected landowners maintained there would not be a massive increase in land values once it was rezoned.
They campaigned for months to have the tax scrapped, saying it would ruin them.
The Government said the tax, known as the Growth Area Infrastructure Contribution, was to pay for infrastructure such as schools and transport in new suburbs.
The GAIC bill was defeated in the upper house last Tuesday.
However, Nola Dunn, western region spokeswoman for lobby group Taxed Out, said the fight against the tax was not over.
"It's [the defeat] a step towards victory. They can bring in amendments.
"They can put it on the backburner and pull it out at the election, like [John] Hewson did with the GST."
Ms Dunn was one of hundreds of landowners from Melbourne's western, northern and south-eastern fringes who twice marched on Parliament calling for the tax to be applied not on the first sale of land but when it was developed.
Taxed Out chairman Michael Hocking said the Government's claims that a 'point of development' GAIC would push up housing prices and the upfront
model would not was "frankly laughable".
"How can an upfront GAIC be a cheaper option when it imposes huge start-up costs on developers and any deferment attracts interest rates of more than 11per cent cent?"
Mount Cottrell resident Catherine Flower has lived with her partner on a four-hectare block in Gard Road for more than 20 years - a property they estimate to be worth $900,000.
They started a small ostrich farm and battled to pay off their mortgage through long periods of high interest rates.
Ms Flower said once their land was rezoned, council rates would have gone up tenfold, and if the tax was introduced the purchaser would have faced a bill of more than $380,000 if it was put up for sale. "We moved here for the lifestyle and to raise a family - we're not speculators."
"There's a sense of relief, but also anger at the Government for putting landowners through so much stress.
"It [the tax] won't go away though, because they'll try to bring it back in another form."
Planning Minister Justin Madden accused the Opposition of betrayal and contempt in voting against the bill, which also killed off the expansion of Melbourne's fringe. This was to include areas to the north and west of Wyndham which would have accommodated many of the 600,000 houses required in Melbourne over the next two decades.
State Government spokesman Chris Owner said: "We cannot and we will not move the urban growth boundary without securing the revenue to pay for new schools, roads, community facilities and services, public services and health care."
Mr Madden claimed house prices would rise by up to $30,000 as a result of the bill's defeat. He slammed the Greens, who also voted against the bill in the upper house, saying they had betrayed their own members because the proposed urban expansion included 15,000hectares of new native grasslands reserves at Mount Cottrell and Little River.
Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy labelled the State Government "grossly irresponsible" for tying the fate of Melbourne's growth to an infrastructure tax.
He rejected claims limiting land supply would drive up house prices.
Wyndham Council acting chief executive Bernie Cronin said it was in favour of the concept of a state-levied charge to assist with the provision of infrastructure in growth areas.
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