Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the massive trade in complex financial derivatives was a major cause of the recent financial crisis and that governments around the world are now seeking solutions to ensure that financial markets price risk appropriately and that unregulated financial trading is more visible to regulators,

(ii)

the ‘Robin Hood’ tax (the tax), an idea that is gaining traction in many western countries with growing public support, imposes a small levy (0.05 per cent) on banks, hedge funds, foreign exchange transactions, derivatives and share deals,

(iii)

the tax is estimated to raise approximately $400 billion dollars a year globally and up to $18 billion in Australia, and

(iv)

the tax advocates proposes that 50 per cent of the revenue is spent by governments on the delivery of essential services and costs of bail-outs associated with the global financial crisis with the remaining 50 per cent to be spent on overseas development aid and climate change adaptation; and

(b)

calls on the Government to support the adoption of this tax at the G20 meeting in Toronto, Canada, in June 2010.

16:02:55

Question put.