Are You Still Here, Mr Haase? A Study of Australia's Tax Rebates for Residents in Isolated Areas

Abstract

In 1945, a tax concession was introduced to compensate the residents of remote areas of Australia for the ‘uncongenial climatic conditions, isolation and high cost of living … in comparison with other parts of Australia’. Changes continued at reasonably regular intervals throughout the 1940s to the 1990s, with a particularly significant change in 1981. However, no further changes to the Zone Rebate have taken place since 1993. This article suggests that the primary factor influencing the reluctance of Federal governments to address the tax concession is that the political capacity of remote voters has waned.