Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

In commencing my contribution to this debate this evening, I'm forced and really quite happy to have the opportunity to reflect upon the different state of Australian politics that now confronts us, at the end of these first two weeks of sitting, as opposed to the last sitting before the election.

We have in the chamber tonight excellent new colleagues and comrades in the Greens' cause, such as Senator Allman-Payne—and I want to thank you for a fantastic contribution to this debate, one which grounded it back in substance and detail rather than the rhetorically high points we were reaching just before. We have the opportunity to discuss issues, such as the need to tax big corporations at this moment in time, when they are making such outrageous profits, not because they're doing anything new or good or beneficial but simply because they're taking advantage of the fact that there are global factors at the moment—wars in the world and shortages of food—that allow them to make extraordinary profits, doing exactly the same as they were doing last year.

We also sit in a chamber right now that's being chaired by Dorinda Cox, my colleague from Western Australia, a proud First Nations woman. We have debated, in the course of the week, many pieces of legislation important to the community. And it is the Greens that have taken the initiative this evening, at the end of this sitting period, to put on the agenda of the Senate a rather important question, that being whether these chambers, these houses of parliament, should, at this incredible moment in time—when so many in our community are doing it so tough—proactively take steps to make the rich richer. That's, ultimately, what we are debating tonight. We are only able to do that because of the contribution of a Greens movement, 30 years in the making, supported by tens of thousands of people across the country. Senator Cox sits in the chair this evening because of the work of the Greens WA movement and the work of many great candidates across the country in the run-up to the election.

Before I move to the substance of the debate this evening, I want to place on the record our thanks to the candidates and individuals that played such an important role in the election, without whose contribution this very conversation would not be happening: first of all, our lower house candidates, the fabulous Caroline Perks; in Fremantle, Felicity Townsend; in Curtin, Cameron Pidgeon; in Swan, Clint Uink; in Brand, Heather Lonsdale; in the seat of Burt, Daniel Garlett; in Canning, Jodie Moffat; in Cowan, Isabella Tripp; in Durack, Bianca McNeair; in Forrest, Christine Terrantroy; and in Hasluck, Brendan Sturcke. In Moore we had Mark Cooper. In O'Connor we had Giz Watson, alongside Donna Nelson in Pearce and Adam Abdul Razak in Tangney. Of course, it wouldn't be good not to mention the fantastic support candidates to Senator Cox on the ticket: River Clarke, Simone Collins, Donald Clarke, Jordan Cahill and Alex Wallace.

All of these individuals and their campaign teams gave so much time and energy to our Greens movement throughout the course of the campaign because they understood, as the millions of Greens voters understand, that there is something deeply wrong, deeply broken, at the heart of the major parties. Both sides have now congealed into a centre right lump, unable or unwilling to challenge the vested interests—the mining companies, the gas giants, the coal barons—that for so long have applied pressure on this place, have made donations to the major parties, have lobbied and greased the wheels in this place. And now both sides in this parliament have basically decided on this particular issue, on the issue of whether fairness and justice should be the guiding principle of our taxing contribution system, to give up the conversation.

Let's be really clear about what is happening here: the Australian community believes in fairness. Our community believes in compassion. Our community believes in working together, and from this belief comes a support for a contribution system which sees those that have more, pay a bit more, and those that have less, pay a bit less. That's the basic premise of how we pool our resources to get things done collectively, and it's been the work in principle of Australia for decades. The corporations and the gas companies and the coal barons have worked furiously alongside their millionaire mates to undermine that system to claw back the little bit more they're asked to contribute to the pool for themselves, because they are selfish and greedy. They are selfish and greedy, not wanting for others what they have for themselves.

In the past it has been the role of parties in this place who proclaim themselves to be of the Left to challenge that greed, to call it out, to object to the idea that selfishness is acceptable in public policy. Well, this evening the reality as we sit here tonight is that both parties, the Liberal and Labor parties, are facing a moment in time when so many are struggling, where the cost of education is going up and people are wondering, 'Where is my next meal going to come from? How am I going to pay that bill? How am I going to convince my landlord not to kick me out? How will I keep my kids warm in my car?' At this moment, when it has never been more urgent that we pool our resources and decide to use them in ways that are fair and just, that support people to work together, both of you want to indulge the selfish and the greedy rich, the Clive Palmers and the Gina Rineharts and the Andrew Forrests, who slime around in the background of Australian politics, popping up every now and again to suggest a basics card or a new version of the Indue scheme or to offer their thoughts from on high on how somebody that's getting by on the viciously low level of JobSeeker could better make ends meet. You've decided to get in bed with those people and give them a tax break.

Now, I am not at all surprised, given that they put this idea forward in the first place, that the Liberal Party would be sitting there tonight contributing to this debate, supporting this terrible idea. It was their proposition in 2018. It is, however, so soul-rackingly disappointing that even after the Australian community chucked out the Morrison government with a joy unsurpassed in recent electoral history, even after Labor's primary vote went backwards, the Labor Party sits here tonight proposing to plough ahead with this redistribution of community funds, which, by the way, will cost in just one year almost as much as one year's value of the entire Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. You're going to give back $15 billion in one year to people like Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest when instead we could be using it for free child care, to bring dental and mental health into Medicare—to do so many good things together. And why? Because you're too scared to do otherwise.

It really is a flimsiness that you are bringing to the debate tonight, when there is a parliament ready and willing to ensure that those funds remain in the public service, in the public good. But you will instead back selfishness and greed, despite the fact that our community has just voted for fairness and compassion and a collective working together in greater numbers than ever before. It is such a deep disappointment.

Finally, I want to speak directly to this question of a windfall profits tax. Now, this is a proposal put forward and championed by our Treasury spokesperson, Nick McKim, and it is a very, very good idea. It is being backed globally by some of the best minds in socially progressive theory. And, indeed, it is even finding the support in some areas of more traditional economists, purely because it seeks to address an absolute breaking down of the traditional economic theory—a traditional economic theory, by the way, which is completely morally bankrupt. It always has been but now is failing even against its terms of success. Corporations, particularly energy companies, are right now making billions of dollars—not because they are doing any more than they once did. They're not producing more. They're not creating anything. They're engaging in vicious price gouging. Why? Because they can. And who is paying for it? The Australian people are paying for it.

A windfall profits tax gives us the opportunity to bail up people like Gerry Harvey and others, and demand that those resources be put back into the community pool and made available for the collective works and social endeavours that are so urgently needed in this tough time for so many.