But this is where I have arranged to meet Cashmore, the person who flies the flag in 21st-century Australia for George's ideas. She is the president of Prosper, a small but energetic think tank, and author of the much-publicised Speculative Vacancies report, which last year identified that nearly one-fifth of the homes owned by investors – 82,724 – in Melbourne are empty.

High priest of Georgism

As the high priest of Georgism in Australia, she spreads the message that, in a world of housing-market pressure and worry, there is a better way.

Empty apartments and arms-race-like escalating house prices are part of the same problem. And they're both avoidable, Cashmore says.

"You don't have to be pinned to the fear, on one hand, that you don't want your house price to drop and on the other hand, worrying about how your kids are going to get in to the market," she says. "We bid our kids out of the market. We bid against them."

"You don't have to be pinned to the fear, on one hand, that you don't want your house price to drop and on the other hand, worrying about how your kids are going to get in to the market." Pat Scala

Like George 120 years ago, Cashmore argues that a broad-based land tax is the way to end speculation and lower the cost of real estate.

The idea is basic, but profound. The value of a piece of land comes from what surrounds it – school catchment zones, train lines, cafes etc – and the benefit of that value should go back to the community. The way things stand, the value of that goes to the person who sells the title deed. A buyer has to not only stump up for the high price tag of the property, but then pay more, through their income and other taxes, to support and develop more infrastructure.


"We're paying twice," Cashmore says. "You pay for your land, and because that money goes into private pockets, it goes into the owners' pockets – to be spent on holidays in Florida or whatever he wants to do with it; you're then being taxed by the government to pay for the infrastructure."

By contrast, a tax imposed on the unimproved value of the land – separate from any capital improvements an owner makes – would push land prices down. A vendor would get the value of capital improvements they made, but a tax on the value of the land itself would push the price down, as buyers would factor the tax they have to pay into the price they can afford.

"If you're a unit buyer, if you know you're going to have to pay the owners' corporation fee of $10,000, it's going to lower what you pay for the unit, because you've got to factor that in to your expenses," she says. "And that's really how a land tax works. The land price is nothing more than economic rent. There's a certain amount somebody will pay for the use-value of the land, for living there, but the price of land as it goes up every year, that's economic rent. That's unearned income. It's nothing more than that, because you haven't earned it. So when you tax that away, all that goes."

Land tax instead of income tax

It's not another tax, but one that would replace current inefficient taxes on income, both personal and corporate.

It's a radical idea – and political suicide for politicians courting the votes of Australia's property-owning middle class. Economists love it – a broad land tax, more comprehensive than the piecemeal range of land taxes dotted across the country, was one recommendation of former Treasury secretary Ken Henry's 2010 tax review – and it could be introduced slowly to mitigate the effects, but political leaders would be wary of advocating a levy that hits homeowners with a big bill.

And yet, such a property tax - - of which value capture is one form - would be far more efficient than the current unholy mess of income and corporate taxes, which penalise productive behaviour by taxing income, rather than wealth. Property taxes are impossible to evade – you can't hide your block of land in Bermuda – and eradicating the widely-loathed stamp duty would create a more efficient property market and permit more efficient use of the resource that is land.

This is the environment in which Cashmore is preaching for an overhaul of the way we think about, and price, property.


Ideas are powerful things. For a world that celebrates rock-star geeks – think Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg – George is worth a shoutout. Progress and Poverty, first published in 1879, argues that no matter how much an economy advances, tax arrangements that put the value of land into private hands will inevitably skew the balance of wealth towards a few people. Philadelphia-born George also had an Australian connection. His 1890 visit to Australia was a catalyst for the formation of the Australian Labor Party, according to Prosper. His wife, Annie Corsina Fox, was an orphan from Sydney.

You try hard to find lunch in Caulfield North. Cashmore wanted to go local on a busy workday, but her first choice, pizza and pita bar Zavdiel's, is unexpectedly closed. A hand-scrawled note apologises for any inconvenience. Luckily, Limor's, a Turkish place a few doors down, is open. Deserted, but open. We have the place to ourselves for the two hours we spend there.

Cashmore is kosher, but her fruitarian diet – "sort of like a paleo diet without the meat" – means that even in a restaurant in this predominantly Jewish suburb her choices are limited.

It's the fault of AFR Weekend. Cashmore hardly eats during the day, but agreed to our insistence that the interview happen over a meal. She opts for a garden salad with dressing on the side. I have a spicy bean soup and bread with hummus, eggplant and tahini dips all to myself.

"The trouble with my personality is that I find it hard not to do things in extremes. If I sign myself to something, I'm an absolute advocate. Over the years I've had to pull myself back a bit because I don't want to preach to other people. It's the worst thing you can do, especially with something like diet, which is such a personal thing."

Still, compared with ordering, implementing a land tax feels easy.

Message for deaf ears?

The argument is convincing. But will her message fall on deaf ears?


A classically trained guitarist, Cashmore's performing career ended after a fall and a wrist injury. Seeking something different, she came to Australia from her native Britain in 2003. It was intended to be just a short trip.

"It was easy to get a working visa for Australia. I thought, I'll go over for a year, and I said to my dad: 'Look after my cat, you know I'll be back in 12 months, you know I'll get homesick and I'll come home'. Well, I didn't... The cat died and my dad died."

I listen to the Georgist-in-chief, now a naturalised Australian, and wonder what the prescription means for me.

Well, imposing a land tax means the price would fall, Cashmore says.

Would my resale price fall?

"So yes, insomuch as the person that gets slugged with land [tax] initially is the homeowner because it reduces their house price's value. But we have to keep pushing forward this message that we are advocating a shift of taxes."

There are ways, Cashmore assures me, it could be done to ease the transition to such a tax.

"All of these things can be compensated – and can be compensated with a period of time that the transition needs to take place," she says. "So for example, you don't need to pay your land tax until you're dead."


Cashmore eats very slowly. When Hakan the friendly waiter comes to clear our places an hour later, her salad bowl is still largely full.

Real estate agent day job

But could it work? There's a great irony to all this. In her day job, Cashmore is a buyer's advocate – purchasing residential real estate for owner-occupiers and investors – the very people whose behaviour she says is causing such damage to the economy. After arriving in Melbourne, she worked as a real estate agent but gradually, as she learned about the economics of land – and read Henry George's book – she became convinced the tax system needed reforming. It was a gradual, rather than a Damascus Road-like conversion, but led to a faith she pursues with just as much vigour. She is, as she puts it, an "absolute advocate".

But doesn't her chosen career undermine the very gospel she preaches?

Cashmore looks at me defiantly. While the current tax and economic framework encourages people to buy and invest in property, she is helping them get the best out of it, she asserts.

"Do I like the system? No, I don't. I don't like the system that we're in. Aren't we all a living contradiction if we own a property? Of course we are. You can't get around it, unfortunately."

Our early lunch wraps up. Cashmore has clients to meet and leaves. I pay and walk back out into the quiet street.

Georgists profess their economic faith with the conviction of true believers. At a time when Australia is grappling with tax reform ideas, land tax - of which value capture is a form - offers one option. It makes great sense, but can the idea win over a population breastfed on the notion of property investment?


As Cashmore puts it: "We're really up against a lot of hurdles."

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Limor's Steak House

67 Kooyong Road, Caulfield North

1 garden salad, $10

1 mix dips – tahini, hummus, eggplant, $19

1 chunky soup with beans, flavoured with basil and Moroccan spices, $12

1 Pellegrini mineral water, $5.50

1 pomegranate juice, $4.90

Double espresso, English Breakfast Tea on the house

Total (incl GST): $51.40