Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that billionaires and big corporations have too much power over our democracy; and

(2) calls on the Government to tax billionaires and big corporations to fund the cost of living relief that Australians need, including:

(a) covering dental and mental health under Medicare;

(b) making sure everyone can see the GP for free;

(c) building housing people can actually afford; and

(d) wiping student debt.

Here are six things we could do if we tax billionaires and big corporations, and you can't change my mind. First, put dental and mental health into Medicare. Why does universal health care stop at our teeth? Second, wipe student debt and make university free again. When I went to university it was free and it was free for most politicians in this parliament. Third, build hundreds of thousands of homes that people can actually afford. It shouldn't be easier to buy your fifth home than your first. Fourth, make seeing the GP free. We supposedly have a universal healthcare system, and have you tried to get a bulk-billing GP lately? Fifth, bring Queensland's 50c public transport fares to the rest of the country, to all Australians. Cut the cost of going to work and get cars off the road—win-win. Sixth, expand publicly owned renewable energy and tackle the climate crisis—cheap, reliable, safe renewables for all.

Yes, we can afford all of this if we make the big corporations and billionaires pay real tax. We could, for instance, raise $514 billion over the next decade by taxing the excessive profits of big corporations. We could scrap the $368 billion we are giving massive US arms manufacturing corporations to build nuclear submarines we don't need. We could scrap the $14 billion going to fossil fuel corporations every year—every year!—in tax breaks. Big corporations and billionaires are making big bucks, while ordinary Australians struggle to pay for basic dental check-ups.

Let's break this down a bit more. Oxfam predicts there will be at least five trillionaires by 2035. Sixty per cent of Australians have skipped seeing the dentist due to the cost. The wealth of Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, has doubled since the pandemic. In 2022-23, there were 87,410 preventable hospitalisations due to dental issues across Australia yet 204 people became billionaires in 2024—that is, nearly four a week. Australians aged 15 and up have on average 11 decayed, filled or missing teeth, and 32 per cent have untreated decay. In 2024, Australian billionaires' wealth surged by $24 billion—that is, $67,000 an hour each or 1,300 times the average wage. Millions of Australian adults would have difficulty covering a $200 emergency dental bill.

Putting dental into Medicare would cost about $15 billion a year according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. It is not nothing, but, by taxing billionaires who are rapidly increasing their wealth, we can easily cover this. The Greens got dental cover for kids into Medicare in 2010 when we were in the balance of power. This is what is known as the Child Dental Benefits Schedule and it is hugely beneficial. Now, with a minority parliament likely, the Greens want to finish the job and get dental into Medicare for everyone.

Back to billionaires and their influence over politics, we have seen a preview of what can happen here over in the US—the Riviera of the Middle East, with the US taking over the entire Gaza Strip against the will of its population and the forced displacement of millions of Palestinians so that property developers can build luxury hotels in Gaza. This is what you get when billionaires take control—bald-faced, self-serving, criminal. Of course this is the kind of plan Donald Trump, a billionaire developer, would come up with. Trump's top advisor on the Middle East, Steve Witkoff—can you believe this—is also a billionaire property developer, and what does the Leader of the Opposition here in Australia call this madness? He said it is 'shrewd', 'reasonable'. He says Trump is 'a big thinker' who brings gravitas to the Middle East. This is the politics of the modern coalition under its leader—although 'modern' is clearly a misnomer—a rapacious oligarch politics that doesn't care one bit about human lives, only profits. The modern Labor Party—well, radio silence sadly from our Prime Minister. If the Liberal-National coalition is hell-bent on bringing this Trumpian politics to Australia, legitimising it, supporting it, then we need to oppose it, not stay silent. The billionaires and big corporations already have far too much power in this country, too much influence over our major parties. Instead of giving them more power, we have to fight to get them out of politics.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.

Debate adjourned.