Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Taxation (Multinational—Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) Bill 2024 and its two associated bills. The coalition supports the continuation of the OECD two-pillar process on multinational tax avoidance, a process the former government initiated and is now being continued by the Labor government. Working with like-minded nations in international forums like the OECD is critical to ensuring that multinational corporations from all jurisdictions pay what is their fair share of tax and contribute to the countries in which they operate.

The coalition took extensive action over our nine years in government to address multinational tax avoidance. As the host of the 2014 G20 summit, Australia played a leading role in the original OECD G20 base erosion and profit shifting, or BEPS, project, which was initiated in 2013 and delivered in 2015. Under the coalition's leadership, Australia adopted the OECD G20 BEPS recommendations, which established a multilateral approach to preventing tax avoidance and increasing tax transparency for tax administrators. At the time, the coalition government implemented several key measures including the introduction of the diverted profits tax, the DPT, which limits a company's ability to shift profits outside of Australia. We also introduced the multinational tax avoidance law, the MAAL, ensuring that companies cannot avoid a taxable presence in Australia. We also strengthened the thin capitalisation rules, improved transfer pricing rules, doubled the penalties for tax avoidance and established the ATO Tax Avoidance Taskforce in 2016. The ATO taskforce was designed to enforce existing laws and support new government measures aimed at preventing tax avoidance. Between 2016 and 2021, the ATO raised $24.2 billion in tax liabilities against large public groups, multinational corporations, and privately owned and wealthy groups. This effort generated collections of $17.3 billion.

It's critical that we continue to pursue fair and consistent tax rules not just within Australia but also with like-minded nations around the world. This is exactly what we're doing through initiatives like the OECD two-pillar solution in collaboration with our international peers. We commend the Labor Party for following our lead in continuing this important work. However, while we support these efforts, it's important to recognise that the current government has not fully delivered on its promises. At the last election, Labor made a clear commitment that its sole focus on taxation would be on addressing multinational tax avoidance. Yet, despite this promise, they've failed to follow through on even that basic commitment.

Labor's handling of country-by-country reporting and changes to thin capitalisation has been nothing short of shambolic. The policy incompetence of the Assistant Treasurer has been so glaring that at least once he needed his senior minister, the Treasurer, to intervene and fix his hair-brained schemes. Labor, led by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, assured Australians that there would be no tax increases beyond working with other countries to make multinational tax regimes fairer, but, as we've seen, this promise was not worth the paper it was written on. Labor's pledge to focus solely on multinational tax avoidance has well and truly been broken.

Instead of keeping their word, Labor has raised taxes in several key areas that will have an impact on the lives of everyday Australians. Labor has increased taxes on superannuation, capturing one-in-10 Australians over time. According to Treasury modelling, young Australians earing average wages today will be subjected to this tax. This is also a new tax on unrealised capital gains—unprecedented in our tax system. This is an assault on family-owned businesses and self-managed super funds, undermining the financial security of hardworking Australians. In addition, Labor has targeted franking credits, banking half a billion dollars in taxes from Australian companies, retirees, super funds and charities. This is a direct attack on the financial wellbeing of those who have worked hard and planned for their future. Labor has also ended small-business tax concessions, dramatically reducing the instant asset write-off that so many small businesses rely on to invest and grow their operations and is failing to provide certainty due to their continued legislative mismanagement. Higher taxes will not help address the cost-of-living crisis that so many Australians are facing. Higher taxes will not solve the problem of anaemic economic growth. Higher taxes will not reverse the collapse in productivity that we're witnessing under this Labor government.

Our economy is shuddering to a halt. Personal income taxes have risen by 20 per cent thanks to bracket creep. Prices are up by 10 per cent, and for working households, prices have increased by over 18 per cent. Real wages have collapsed by nine per cent and living standards have fallen by eight per cent. Household savings have dropped by 10 percentage points also. Australia is now trailing behind our peer nations and a family with a typical mortgage of $750,000 is approximately $35,000 worse off. This is in no way responsible economic management. Labor's higher spending, higher interest rates and higher taxes, coupled with the additional $315 billion of spending across three budgets, have left Australians far worse off.

Their broken promises on taxes, including on superannuation, franking credits and small businesses have only added to this immense pain. The changes to the multinational tax arrangements in this bill do not make up for Labor's attacks on aspirational Australians. These changes do not compensate for Labor's inaction on inflation. They don't address the impact of rising interest rates on Australian households. Nor do they undo the harm caused by Labor's tax policies.

Australians deserve a government that is focused on the challenges they face today. And while the coalition will not oppose this legislation, we will not apologise for holding this government to account for their broken promises on tax, their failure to take meaningful action on productivity, and their lack of focus on fighting inflation. We need a government that prioritises the economic wellbeing of all Australians and takes real steps to address the cost-of-living crisis, improve productivity and, importantly, restore confidence in our economy.

In conclusion, while we support the continuation of efforts to tackle multinational tax avoidance, we can't ignore the broader economic challenges facing our nation. Labor's broken promises and misguided policies have left Australians worse off, and we must continue to hold them to account. Our focus must remain on creating a fair and prosperous Australia where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.