Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Good. In this case, we hear stories about companies that do not pay any tax in this country—for example, James Hardie, Westfield Retail Property Trust, large mining companies, 21st Century Fox—we have some really clear examples of companies that are very large players in the Australian landscape who are not paying tax. If it is true that we are in a budget emergency—although I note that that rhetoric has been toned down considerably in the last six months—if it is logical that we need more revenue, and I think we do, we can raise revenue through a fixed mining tax and through a price on carbon. That would be tens of billions of dollars that we could spend not just on investment but on the most needy in our country; providing that safety net of social security and health that we desperately need in this country. I think that in itself is a good investment in our people. This is not all about businesses; it is not all about infrastructure; it is about people. People are the key ingredient.

The Greens moved over the weekend to have an inquiry—which I certainly hope we will be able to get tripartisan support for—to look at this issue of tax minimisation and tax avoidance and give certainty to stakeholders in this country. When I say 'stakeholders', I am talking about hundreds of different organisations—church groups, unions, social welfare groups et cetera—who want to see this issue fixed once and for all. They want to see real action by our government to crack down on tax dodging in Australia.

It is not going to be easy. You can do it in one country, but it really needs to be done in multiple countries for it to be effective. Why is that? Senator Williams, it is because we are dealing with multinational companies—that is, they have jurisdictions in more than one country. That allows them to do the types of profit shifting and transfer pricing arrangements that I highlighted. If we do not have cooperation from other countries, we will not succeed in this endeavour—and that needs leadership. Like we took leadership on climate change—and then it was ripped down by the coalition government—we need to take global leadership on this issue. The Micah Challenge, the Oaktree Foundation and all the stakeholders are saying to us, 'Get out there and take a global leadership role and let's get this done.'