Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the right to obscene profits more important than the right to eat? Coles seems to think so. Coles made over a billion dollars in the last year, driving up the cost of bread, milk and vegetables. Is the right to huge profits more important than the right to tell the truth? Qantas seems to think so. Qantas reportedly sold over 8,000 tickets on flights it had already cancelled, took $2.7 billion in public handouts during the pandemic and returned more than a billion dollars in profit, all while cosying up to the government. Is a landlord's right to unlimited rent increases more important than a renter's right to keep a home? Labor seems to think so. Labor has refused to put any limit on rent increases, which would give renters some breathing room from greedy property moguls who can write off their losses to the taxpayers.

Everyday people are being used as cannon fodder so that the big corporations and the very wealthy can make even more obscene profits. Young people are being driven into decades of debt while Coles, Qantas and Telstra return billions more to their owners and shareholders. And, if you don't own a property portfolio, millions of shares in a big corporation, earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or are a CEO, Labor is letting you down. If you're renting, Labor's letting you down. If you're cutting back groceries, Labor is letting you down. If you've been ripped off by Qantas, Labor is letting you down.

It's time to make the big corporations pay their fair share of tax so that everyday people can have a better life.