"A single retiree...would be liable for higher land tax payments living in a five bedroom home on a double block of land than if they lived in a two bedroom apartment. Thus land tax would incentivise landowners to select housing that best fits their needs."

It was first introduced to the colony in 1895 by premier George Reid, who would go on to become Australia's fourth Prime Minister, as a revenue raising measure. "A secondary objective was...to break-up the large estates owned by New South Wales' well-heeled property owners so that the land could be more effectively utilised and cultivated," the McKell paper recounts.