Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, welcomes the passage of Labor’s private Member’s Bill to lower the tax transparency threshold and is pleased to note that the Senate accepted the two Greens-proposed amendments.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that the Minerals Council report into the taxation paid by mining companies in Australia shows that the lobby group cannot be trusted to enter into public debate in good faith and only serves to cement the reputation of corporate Australia as self-serving charlatans.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Claiming royalties as tax is like a café owner claiming every kilo of coffee beans they buy is a tax. A royalty is the price a company pays to access a public owned resource to on-sell for private profit.

Greens Treasury Spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has called on the Government to call in the UK Ambassador to ask why the UK continues to allow negligent levels of tax secrecy in their Overseas Territories, as exposed by the Paradise Papers.

“Australia needs to let the UK know that we can no longer tolerate its overseas territories, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, being used by Australian citizens or companies operating in Australia for aggressive tax avoidance and potential tax evasion strategies.