Bold plan to tax billionaires

CLIMATE change and the cost-of-living crisis were key topics at the Billionaire Influence Machine: The Dark Money Buying our Democracy event in Murwillumbah on Monday night.

Greens senator David Shoebridge joined journalist and author Royce Kurmelovs, who wrote SLICK: How Big Oil Captured Australia, and 2040 filmmaker Damon Gameau for the panel discussion at M-Arts Cafe & Bar, which was facilitated by Greens candidate for Richmond Mandy Nolan.

Shoebridge outlined the Greens’ plan to tax billionaires to fund measures that would save households thousands of dollars annually through policies addressing housing affordability, healthcare and student debt.

He said the plan would raise more than $500 billion over a decade by cancelling the AUKUS nuclear submarine program and replacing it with domestic production capabilities of defence material strictly for defensive purposes, a 40 per cent tax on excess profits for big corporations with over $100 million in turnover, and a 10 per cent tax on the net wealth of Australia’s billionaires.

It would also close loopholes in the oil and gas sector to ensure companies pay their fair share for publicly owned resources and address multinational tax avoidance.

With the money saved, Shoebridge said the Greens would fund measures such as free dental care through Medicare, six new free healthcare clinics across the Northern Rivers and wiping all student debt.