Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have just been visited by representatives from Micah Challenge, who will be familiar to a number of members. They spoke to me about their new campaign, Shining the Light on Tax Dodging and Corruption: Australia's G20 Opportunity. I quote from their material:

"Developed countries must keep their promises to developing countries. North-South aid is still vital for many countries: it must be maintained, and increased wherever possible. But more than aid is needed to implement sustainable development worldwide. Developed countries… have special responsibilities in ensuring that there can be no safe haven for illicit capital and the proceeds of corruption, and that multinational companies pay taxes fairly in the countries in which they operate."

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Christian Aid estimated that in 2008, developing countries lost more than USD 160 billion through just two forms of multinational corporate tax dodging – transfer mispricing and false invoicing. This figure dwarfs the amount that these countries receive in aid, which amounted to USD $120 billion in 2009.

If developing countries had access to these lost revenues and used them in the same proportions and for the same purposes as their current expenditures, Christian Aid estimates they could save the lives of around 350,000 children each year.

As the South African Finance Minister, Trevor Manual, said:

It is a contradiction to support increased development assistance, yet turn a blind eye to actions of multinationals and others that undermine the tax base of a developing country.

I urge the government to consider this issue very seriously in the lead-up to the G20 and to seek to raise the issue through that forum to ensure that there is a better understanding of the problems that relate to corporate tax dodging and the nefarious impact that it has on developing countries throughout the world.