Greens leader Adam Bandt has petitioned that all Australian billionaires be named and shamed on an Australian Tax Office register. Recently many people believe that there is no such thing as an ethical billionaire.
This petition’s purpose is to publicly disclose how much billionaires make and what they pay in tax and is meant to benefit the general public. In essence it’s to hold the billionaires accountable and making this information public knowledge is intended to be fair and benefit the general population.
Wealth inequality is a serious growing issue in many countries, Australia included. Bandt’s intentions are to even out the playing field by holding billionaires accountable for paying more tax and making their income public knowledge. Bandt said that Australians “value fairness” and believe that “economic inequality is out of control.”
Having this information made public would be the first step to restoring some accountability and transparency to the general public.
Bandt also plans on a 6% wealth tax plan for the Australians making billions, quoting “The very least they can do is start paying their fair share of tax.”
However, there are ways billionaires will try to work around this, with non-disclosure strategies and taking advantage of different asset valuations to avoid their tax liability.
Bandt also claims that the Greens will fight to make billionaires and corporations who profited from JobKeeper pay back what they pocketed. “While everyone else was suffering during the pandemic, billionaires and big corporations took government handouts and got even richer.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected the Greens’ plan, saying he “won’t be listening to the Greens”.