Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) according to the United Nations, global extreme poverty has been halved since 1990 but more than 1.2 billion people remain in extreme poverty;

(b) as an economically rich and developed nation, Australia has a responsibility to be a global leader in delivering overseas aid programs and funding;

(c) in 2008, Christian Aid estimated that developing countries lost more than $160 billion (USD) through just two forms of multinational tax evasion—transfer mispricing and false invoicing; and

(d) Micah Challenge:

  (i) is a global movement of aid and development agencies, churches, schools, groups and individuals speaking out against poverty and injustice in support of the Millennium Development Goals;

  (ii) has identified that Australia, as Chair of the G20, has a unique opportunity to bring tax evasion and corruption to the attention of the world in 2014; and

  (iii) urges Australia to take a leading role in tackling tax evasion;

(2) condemns the Government for:

(a) cutting the overseas aid budget; and

(b) its lack of action on multinational tax avoidance; and

(3) urges all Members of Parliament to take an active role in ensuring Australia continues to be a leader in the delivery of overseas aid programs and funding.

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