Financial secrecy and tax dodging are on the agenda for discussion when the world’s most economically powerful leaders (the G20) meet in Brisbane this November. If Australia can increase transparency and catch the tax dodgers then there is more money available for our economy and for the world’s poor.
Conservative estimates show that poor nations lose more than $160 billion each year through corporate tax dodging, which is more money than they receive annually in foreign aid. The vast majority of money flowing out of developing countries is not stolen by corrupt politicians and dictators, but is rather pulled out by large multinational corporations who exploit loopholes in the global tax system to shift their profits away from the countries they operate within.
Local member and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development, Tanya Plibersek, took time out from her busy schedule to meet with Micah Challenge leaders and members of her electorate. She shared her concern for the world’s poorer countries. She strongly encouraged the public to speak out about the international aid budget, pointing out that $1 in every $5 cut in the Hockey-Abbott budget was because of a decrease in foreign aid.
