Australia Doesn't Need Lower Taxes
To have world class health, education and transport services we need to collect the revenue to fund them. Data from the OECD, IMF and World Bank make clear that Australia is a low taxing country.
A debate about tax reform should begin with the question of how much tax is required to fund the services we need to build a fair and decent society in Australia.
Join Bernie Fraser, former governor of the Reserve Bank; Ged Kearney, President of the ACTU; Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Doherty, and the 47 other eminent Australians urging the Prime Minister and all political leaders not to cut taxes at this time -- and certainly not for companies.
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To the Prime Minister --
Data from the OECD, IMF and World Bank make clear that Australia is a low taxing country. To have world class health, education and transport services we need to collect the revenue to fund them.
A debate about tax reform should begin with the question of how much tax is required to fund the services we need to build a fair and decent society in Australia.
And real tax reform also requires fairness. A serious tax reform package designed to be ‘fair’ should address as a priority the current generous tax concessions to the top end of town, the inequitable distribution of superannuation tax concessions and the capital gains tax discount, not how to give big business large company tax cuts at the expense of services that everyday Australians rely on. Cutting programs which support needy Australians to give more tax benefits to companies or large income tax cuts to the wealthiest is not fair.
The OECD says inequality harms growth. While inequality will always be in the community, what matters is its extent, its direction, and its causes. What’s more, increasing inequality hurts the economy and divides the community.
The pursuit of equity and fairness must lie at the heart of our national goals. Fortunately, not only is the pursuit of equity broadly supported by the community, it is good for our economy as a whole. Collecting more tax, more equitably, will make Australia a better place to live and work.
We urge the Prime Minister and all political leaders not to cut taxes at this time -- and certainly not for companies.
Yes, I urge the Prime Minister and all political leaders not to cut taxes at this time -- and certainly not for companies.
Sign on to the open letter here.