Millionaire Tax: Unions call for Buffett-style rich tax

SYDNEY: Australia’s trade unions said Saturday that they would call on the government to introduce a millionaires’ tax similar to US President Barack Obama’s so-called “Buffett Rule”. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said it wanted to ensure mining billionaires such as Clive Palmer paid a minimum tax on their incomes regardless of how they were derived. “The income tax system is absurdly inequitable when it comes to taxing the mega-rich,” said ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons. Lyons said that the ACTU policy would be similar to top-end tax changes debated recently in the United States requiring those earning more than US$1 million per year to pay at least 30% in taxes. Australia’s centre-left Labour government passed tough new taxes on mining profits and corporate pollution this year, and the party has strong links to the union movement, with a number of former union chiefs now cabinet ministers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2012.