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Australian Greens’ Leader calls for big biz tax to bolster nation’s recovery
Minister Adam Bandt is pushing for profit-making corporations to spend their extra dollars on helping those who are doing it tough.
The Australian Greens continue to put big corporations under the microscope, with the party pushing Labor to adopt a new 40 percent tax on the “super-profits” of big business.
Coined the tale of two pandemics, big corporations are making millions while small to medium-sized businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy.
Throughout the course of the pandemic, three mining corporations made $65 billion in profits between them while Harvey Norman increased their profits by 75 percent.
That’s why Greens’ Leader Adam Bandt is pushing for big profit-making corporations to pay more tax in a bid to equalise to the nation.
“During the pandemic, a lot of people have done it really, really tough and we’ve had millions of people lose their incomes,” Bandt says.
“[Meanwhile] big corporations and billionaires have been making out like bandits.”
If this tax was to come into play, Bandt says money owed would go towards including dental and mental health into Medicare while building more affordable housing.
The proposal would only apply to company’s who have a turnover of $100 million, with a focus placed on the mining sector.
Going in a different direction
While the government has previously acted on expert advice to endorse a super profits tax, the Greens plan to take a different approach.
“Some of the big giants like Apple are making huge profits in Australia, but are engaging in complex legal schemes which means that their profits go offshore,” Bandt says.
“We would instead capture the tax on the activity of those big multinationals here in Australia.”
The Greens’ minister says Australia should rely heavily on the profits of big corporations to kick-start the nation’s recovery, especially with many gaining political ground.
Additionally, big corporations are paying labor and liberal governments in donations to avoid paying tax, with Bandt saying the extra cash should be splashed on giving back to the Australian people.
“I think people would rather Clive Palmer send them less texts, and instead pay a bit more tax.”
Bandt’s view on Newscorp’s climate announcement
Moving onto the ongoing climate emergency, Bandt says Newscorp’s latest announcement to end its long standing editorial hostility towards carbon reduction policies and hit net zero emissions by 2050, comes little too late.
A call to action is now in place for more to be done by the news company by 2030, a deadline which was set by scientists.
“If we don’t take action before 2030 then what we do in the decades after may not matter because we will have missed the window of reining in unstoppable climate change.”
The United Nations is calling on Australia to drop the use of coal by 2030, a position heavily supported by the Greens who aim to turn this into legislation.
“That’s what Labour, Liberal and Murdoch need to get behind because by 2050, it could well be too late.”
Written by Rebecca Borg
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