Australia the rip-off country

Cinema ticket, cars, fruit and veges and property prices in Australia are among the world's dearest. Source: Herald Sun

FORGET the lucky country - Australia has been branded the land of the great big rip-off.

It is absurd that staples such as fruits and vegetables are several times more expensive than in Europe; DVDs and books can be bought far cheaper offshore; the same cars cost twice as much compared with overseas, and; housing is less affordable than some of the world's biggest cities, says a Centre for Independent Studies report.

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The pro-business think-tank wants property stamp duty axed or slashed and first home buyer grants and negative gearing scrapped to reduce the cost divide, claiming the policies have added to the housing affordability crisis.

And it says import restrictions should be dropped for bananas, cars and books.

The paper labels the nation one of the priciest on the planet, blaming successive governments for key essentials now being steeper than in London, New York and Singapore.

"That Australia is now one of the most expensive addresses on the planet was by no means unavoidable ... what we got instead is a country in which both products and land are much more expensive than in most other countries."

But a federal government spokesman said tariffs had been progressively reduced over three decades to promote free trade and lower consumer goods prices, and that a strong biosecurity and quarantine system was needed for imported-food risks.

Personal tax cuts, higher pensions and other policies had eased cost pressures.

The Victorian Government reduced stamp duty for first home buyers by 20 per cent in July. The cuts will steadily increase over the next three years.

The CIS researchers examined price data for bananas, books, cars, real estate and some retail goods.

They found houses that once cost three times the median household income were now up to nine times that in some capital cities.

Retail rip-offs driven by high rents, outlandish CBD carparking rates and restrictive planning and zoning regulations pushed shoppers to foreign websites, they said.

Outdated copyright laws meant local stores regularly charged double or triple for books.

The report estimated car prices would fall by up to 50 per cent if import duties, the luxury car tax and bans on used vehicle imports were abolished.

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