Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Even though Labor support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Sure Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share of Tax in Australia and Other Measures) Bill 2019 and we've made many comments and statements in this place about cracking down on multinationals, we know that this bill doesn't go far enough. It is a step in the right direction, but it basically still lets the multinationals off the hook. We know that when you speak to people out in the community and discuss politics, as we did in the campaign that just took place, one of the major issues that keep on coming up over and over again is, 'Why don't you crack down on multinationals that don't pay their tax?' That's something that we hear in the community continuously, because Australians are outraged—and rightly so, because they pay their fair share of tax. If you're working, whether you're a public servant, an assembly line worker, a bus driver or a carpenter, you will pay your tax. People pay their taxes to help fund our schools and our health—our Medicare system. So it's right that they're outraged, and it's just not fair on average Australia.

We've seen reports in the media continuously. One not even a year ago said, 'Multinationals move $16 billion from Australia to tax havens each year.' We're not talking about a couple of million or a few million; they move $16 billion from Australia to tax havens each year. This is money that would fund our entire health system or our entire education system, and it is not on.

We know that one of the best ways to fix up the mess that this government has made with the budget and the economy is to ensure that multinationals pay their fair share of tax. Closing down loopholes means more taxpayer money will stay in Australia to be spent on the needs of the Australian people. We know that critical services, as I've mentioned—schools and hospitals—need this money. Instead of average Australians paying more than their fair share, we need these multinationals to pay their fair share.

As I said, while this bill goes some way to addressing the multinational tax avoidance, much more needs to be done. We know, as we heard the member for Fenner say, that the government's heart is not really in this. They've voted against proposals and motions that we've put up in this place, and we know that their heart is not in it. We also know that their heart's not in it because the biggest beneficiaries of the $20 billion tax cut will be these very multinational companies that are moving $16 billion from Australian shores to offshore places like the Cayman Islands to avoid their tax. We know that they pay millions of dollars every year to tax accountants and accounting firms at the big end of town to show them how they can avoid paying their tax and then get a tax deduction on that bill. That runs into the millions. During the last election campaign, we didn't hear much from the government on multinationals, corporations and tax havens, and they refused to close down tax loopholes. So we know that, under this government, working Australians have been footing the bill for the unfair tax loopholes that exist in this nation and benefit those multinational companies.

As I said, we've seen from time to time, again and again, articles that appear in newspaper reports. Another one that I dug out today was from ABC News, dating back to December of last year. It said that one third of large Australian companies paid no tax, and that was from the ATO data. They failed to pay the tax even though they made a gross profit. This is not on, because for every dollar that these multinationals aren't paying the bill is footed by an average Australian worker.

On this side of the House, Labor is very serious about cracking down on multinational tax loopholes and making multinational corporations pay their share of tax. As I said, during the election campaign the Labor Party, on this side of the House, announced a tough multinational tax avoidance and tax haven crackdown. This was a crackdown which would have made our system fairer. It would have been fairer for companies that are competing against these companies that offshore their money and pay no tax, and it would have been fairer for smaller businesses who pay their fair share of tax. It would have helped to fund better health services and better services in this nation. That's the reason we pay taxes, so our children can have the education that they deserve and so our elderly can have the services they deserve in hospitals and health care and many other things.

We went to the election with 19 different measures to crack down on the multinational tax loopholes and the tax havens that exist overseas. There were measures such as tightening the debt deductions, closing public reporting of country-to-country reports and increasing capacity for the ATO. We need to give the powers needed to the ATO to be able to investigate. We heard from the member for Fenner about giving tax inspectors the ability to operate without borders and to be able to go into some of these Third World countries where governments can be influenced by multinationals not to pay any tax and to set up tax havens. Closing those loopholes is a must for this nation. We know that there are certain trusts that make payments to nonresidents on artificial figures and they get a tax rate below the 30 per cent company rate as well.

We also need to give whistleblower protections. Whistleblower protections are so important. There are many people who have information and who would like to be heard. We need to give those people the protection that they require to feel comfortable enough to report previous employers that have been, basically, abusing the system—sometimes even illegally.

The government needs to do more than just claim credit for one of Labor's previous policies. We have made these announcements many times and the government wouldn't support us. If the government were serious about dealing with multinational tax avoidance then it would take real action. It would really come down tough and do everything it can to stop the loopholes that exists currently in our system which enable these companies to pay little or no tax. So the government needs to do more. Every single dollar that we let slip through is an extra dollar that average Australia has to make up for. Every million dollars that a multinational avoids paying is a million dollars that come out of the pockets of working Australian mums and dads, and that is not on. It is critical that we fund our services, and average Australians are funding the services and carrying the weight for many of these multinational companies that are out there. We have foreign banks, for example, which pay no tax or very little tax here in Australia. We see that they turn over billions in lending and trading here in this nation and yet pay no tax. There are articles which, as I said, have appeared on the ABC and in many of Australia's papers about that.

One of the things that this measure will crack down on—and examples of this have been given—is the situation of hotel booking agencies that exist overseas, where you can set up an internet company anywhere in the world and service people here in Australia and the money is paid into an overseas account. The company doesn't appear here in Australia, yet uses Australian dollars to make a profit and then pays absolutely no tax. We know this is wrong. We know that we need to crack down on it. It is a small measure that is taking place through this bill. We need to come down tougher and be harder on these multinationals and we need to close the loopholes to ensure that companies paying their fair share of tax.

When you have one-third of Australia's largest companies paying zero tax, it's not on—because that tax is paid by everyday, ordinary Australians. As I said, every dollar that slips overseas is being paid for by a schoolteacher, by a nurse, by a police officer or by someone working in a factory, a storeman or a store woman—average Australians. They are carrying on their shoulders the weight of these multinationals who get away with paying no tax. These multinationals make billions of dollars, and their executives and board members are on millions of dollars. It is just not on and not fair.

So I am hoping that we will see more measures. We on this side of the House proposed 19 measures at the last election—measures that would have really tightened up those loopholes; measures that would have ensured that more money came into our coffers to pay for education, health and the services that Australians require.

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