Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

the () (): I rise to speak in solidarity with the volunteers of Micah Challenge, an inspirational movement of young Christians from churches and groups all around Australia determined to ease the global scourge of poverty and injustice. In the lead-up to this year's G20, members of Micah Challenge had well over 100 meetings with parliamentarians to shine the light on the corruption, multinational tax dodging and profit-shifting that robs the world's poor of vital resources for sustainable development.

Developing countries lose vast amounts of money each year due to tax dodging, bribery, corruption and illicit financial flows. Effective tax systems, based on cooperative relationships between governments, businesses and individuals, are a bedrock for democracy and growth. When businesses and citizens form part of the formal economy, good tax administration can lift millions out of poverty by enabling the provision of essential services like health care, pensions, education and other instruments of a modern state. If multinational companies and wealthy individuals avoid paying taxes, everyone else has to either pay more tax or go without these services. Multinational corporations can dodge tax quite easily even in Australia, a nation with relatively well policed tax laws, even though the government is slashing jobs at the tax office, and even more easily in developing countries.

When Labor was in government we put in place a significant package aimed at closing some of those loopholes. And, while I am pleased to see that this government has pursued in principle the agenda on multinational profit shifting, its legislative actions are devaluing its words. While the government went to the G20 and said it was a priority to deal with multinational profit shifting, its only actions have been to reverse parts of Labor's package. We are now past a cumulative $1.1 billion in multinational profit shifting measures announced by Labor and reversed by the government, and Australia's losses to tax avoidance are comparatively light. Developing countries are estimated to lose to tax havens almost three times what they get from developed countries in aid.

This year the Australian government had a real opportunity as the president of the G20 to make a difference on this issue, to break down the walls of financial secrecy. As the president of the G20, the Australian government could have supported changes to the global tax rules that would ensure companies are taxed where they are actually doing business and not allow them to shift profits to secret jurisdictions through artificial legal structures that exploit loopholes in international tax laws.

If the government had followed the inspired and tireless lead of the young women and men from Micah Challenge, then it might have ensured its rhetoric about economic growth referred to more than merely job creation. Growth must include employment, of course, but the Prime Minister ignored the need for growth to also include those who do not have a job, the:

… the provision of public goods to guarantee equality of opportunities, and counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies to reduce volatility—

and progress against corruption. That is why growth must include inclusive growth, as so many of the G20 leaders urged to be included in the communique.

Much of the G20 commitments on corruption and tax avoidance risk appearing token, as most if not all G20 countries are already subject to international Financial Action Task Force commitments to require key tax information to be kept and shared, yet most have not been implementing them. But if this progress is made, if these commitments are implemented, if developing countries can keep one-quarter of their GDP in tax revenue through global tax systems reform, instead of one-tenth, then they will not necessarily be asking for aid from Australia, they will be asking to trade with Australia. They will be lifted out of poverty.

I congratulate the advocacy of Micah Challenge and all its individuals and groups, as well as NGOs, unions, community groups and parliamentarians who continue to shine a light on corruption, on multinational tax dodging and on profit shifting that robs the world's poor of vital resources and sustainable development. Let's hope that this tax evasion ends to benefit the world's poor.

Debate interrupted.