Elizabeth Watson-Brown
Ryan · Australian Greens · Australia
“We terrified the major parties because they knew it was popular and they were going to lose votes if they didn't do something. So they caved. Both Labor and the Liberals committed to 50 cent fares permanently. In 2022, we won bigger taxes on coal corporations in Queensland with the same method. We announced our policy.”
“Labor MPs were sitting around a table with Sportsbet at the Midwinter Ball last night, and this morning they introduced gambling reform designed to appease the gambling lobby. Gambling is a multibillion-dollar industry built off the losses of everyday people. People are losing their livelihoods and their lives over this.”
“This is the motion that Labor just tried to stop me talking about: the need for essential public services to return to public ownership. Instead, Labor replaced it with their own topic. I've never seen this happen before in the entire time I've been here.”
“It's no wonder that they want to stop me talking about it. They don't have the solutions. The real solution is staring us in the face. We have to end 40 years of privatisation and corporate rule. If you're out there in the real world listening to this, I just want to say something.”
“on indulgence I also acknowledge that it's a very good idea that we do have a conversation about this because it's a critical thing. We here on the crossbench are representing our constituents, and we are giving them a voice here in this parliament. Any potential suppression of that is a suppression of the voices of our constituents.”
“That's why I reckon we can win a gas tax, but only if we organise. We know the people in Labor and the major parties are still too close to big corporations to really put everyday people first, so we'll have to replace them. But you know how we replace them? By getting organised.”
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“Third, build hundreds of thousands of homes that people can actually afford. It shouldn't be easier to buy your fifth home than your first. Fourth, make seeing the GP free. We supposedly have a universal healthcare system, and have you tried to get a bulk-billing GP lately? Fifth, bring Queensland's 50c public transport fares to the rest of the country, to all Australians. Cut the cost of going to work and get cars off the road—win-win. Sixth, expand publicly owned renewable energy and tackle the climate crisis—cheap, reliable, safe renewables for all. Yes, we can afford all of this if we make the big corporations and billionaires pay real tax. We could, for instance, raise $514 billion over the next decade by taxing the excessive profits of big corporations.”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes that billionaires and big corporations have too much power over our democracy; and (2) calls on the Government to tax billionaires and big corporations to fund the cost of living relief that Australians need, including: (a) covering dental and mental health under Medicare; (b) making sure everyone can see the GP for free; (c) building housing people can actually afford; and (d) wiping student debt. Here are six things we could do if we tax billionaires and big corporations, and you can't change my mind. First, put dental and mental health into Medicare. Why does universal health care stop at our teeth? Second, wipe student debt and make university free again. When I went to university it was free and it was free for most politicians in this parliament.”
“These two changes make the rest of the bill worth supporting because these are not measures that any coalition government, with their affection for higher pollution and economic inequality, would ever pursue.”
“Currently, people with incomes over $190,000 who have an ATO debt are able to deduct 45c in every dollar paid back on a debt, while a worker earning $45,000 a year can only receive a 16c discount on every dollar of interest paid to the ATO. Someone with a tax debt earning below $18,200 would have to pay the full amount back with no tax deductibility. The current system is deeply regressive. The current system is open to manipulation by financially literate high-income earners, who can intentionally run up a debt to cover other life costs knowing the Australian public will pick up almost half their tab—almost half of their interest charges.”
“That standard was set at seven litres per 100 kays, but, given the natural technological improvements and emissions standards in major global car markets that oblige increasingly efficient vehicles, the current standard has been eroded over time and needs realigning now. The change proposed in this bill will remove internal combustion vehicles and their hybrids from the more generous threshold and refresh the intent of the original 2008 agreement. Secondly, schedule 2 of the bill will deny deductions on interest payments from ATO debts and, as a result, will correct a deeply regressive element of our income tax system whereby the Australian public effectively subsidises high income earners' debt repayments to the tax office.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Incentives and Integrity) Bill 2024. The Greens are supporting this bill, as it does two important things. Firstly, Schedule 1 of the bill lowers the fuel efficiency requirements for cars to be eligible for a higher luxury car tax threshold so that only EVs and plug-in hybrids are eligible for the more generous LCT threshold. In 2008, the Greens and Labor negotiated the higher vehicle efficiency threshold as a design element within the luxury car tax in order to send a price signal to consumers choosing between higher and lower emitting vehicles.”
“The Greens got a Senate inquiry up that made 21 recommendations, got more flights over the water and brought this issue to the national stage. We're on the community's side, and we'll keep fighting for real, long-term solutions to aircraft noise.”
“Flight noise has been inflicted directly by the shared policies of the major parties: refusing to legislate a curfew, prioritising aviation industry profits above all else, and privatising airlines and airports. Labor and the LNP have refused to support my private member's bill that would extend the protections that Sydney Airport currently enjoys, a curfew, a cap on flights and a long-term operating plan to Brisbane. Labor and the LNP have voted against even considering a curfew at Brisbane Airport. Labor and the LNP also voted against transparency for Brisbane Airport's anti-curfew lobbying efforts. People affected by flight noise deserve so much better than Labor and the LNP—both so beholden to the aviation industry.”
“These companies, all ripping Australians off, are topping the charts for donations to Labor and the LNP, and the political system is serving their interests. They pay no tax while families are sleeping in their cars and tents, while 60 per cent of Australians put off seeing the dentist due to cost and while our next generation is saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. We need more Greens in parliament to stop the big corporations and billionaires buying our democracy. This might be the last fortnight of parliament this term. I want to speak about something I've addressed many times before. Brisbane residents suffer some of the worst flight noise in the country. It's not an annoyance; it's a serious health issue with serious impacts. Interrupted sleep is a nightly occurrence for thousands of people in Brisbane.”
“Mineral Resources, a huge mining company—$76,000 to the Liberals and $55,000 to the ALP; $5.6 billion in income and no tax paid. Adani Mining, a multinational coal corporation—$66,000 to a Nationals associated entity in donations, previously donated to Labor and the LNP directly; 115 million in income and no tax paid. Do you see a pattern here? Thirty-one per cent of corporations in Australia pay no tax. It's not just mining. Star Entertainment has donated almost $100,000 since 2020 to the ALP national and Queensland branches—no tax paid. Transurban, the toll-road operator, paid no tax in the last financial year. They donated almost the exact amount, around $30,000, to both major parties in 2021-22 and 2022-23.”
“This week, Labor officially withdrew the bill, and environment law is dead for this term of parliament. Meanwhile, Townsville and Ingham flood catastrophically just five years after their last once-in-a-century floods. This is climate change. Meanwhile, we're destroying natural habitats at record rates, threatening more species' extinction every year. When the Leader of the Opposition is all in with Trump's 'drill baby drill' attitude, what hope is there if Labor isn't willing to stand up to mining corporations? That's why the Greens are here. Let's dig into the donations data a bit more. Santos, a massive gas corporation—$71,000 to the Labor Party and $37,500 to the Liberals in donations; $6.3 billion income and no tax paid.”
“It's story time. Do you want an example of the blatant power exerted by giant mining corporations over our political system? Labor gets elected in 2022, promising to fix Australia's broken environmental laws. The Greens are in the balance of power in the Senate. There's a lot of negotiation, and, by late last year, a positive agreement was struck between the Greens and the environment minister. It's not perfect, but there is give and take on both sides, and it's a step forward. The mining corporations and their staunch ally, the WA Labor Premier, catch wind of this agreement. They lobby—hard—literally calling the Prime Minister to tell him to drop it. At the eleventh hour, the Prime Minister overrides his own environment minister and rips up the agreement she struck.”
“My question is to the Minister for Communications. Gambling reform is unfinished business in this parliament, and parents are angry that their kids are bombarded with gambling ads online and when they watch sports and other shows. After three years, your government has still refused to ban gambling ads, so will you at least accept the Greens' compromise offer to ban gambling ads online that target our kids and during sport when families are watching?”
“It's to provide tax breaks for billionaires and corporations, fast-track approvals of new coal and gas projects, derail our progress on renewables, make it more expensive to see a GP, and launch poisonous, divisive culture wars to distract us while the incredibly wealthy get even wealthier. We could get dental into Medicare, we could make uni free again, we could build hundreds of thousands of genuinely affordable homes and we could fund a huge expansion in renewables and storage, but we're letting billionaires and big corporations make bigger and bigger profits and pay less and less tax, and the Leader of the Opposition wants to make it worse. We can't let billionaires buy our democracy.”
“WATSON-BROWN () (): Today I have a warning—$1 trillion. That was the net worth of billionaires at Donald Trump's inauguration. Billionaires put in charge of key government departments. There's a name for this. It's called oligarchy—ruled by the rich. And now they're trying to bring it here. Homegrown billionaires like Gina Rinehart have all swung in behind Trump. Rinehart has called on Australian politicians to be more like Donald Trump and has hosted fundraisers for the coalition. The entry price was $14,000. And the Leader of the Opposition has happily reciprocated, heading off on an increasingly Trumpian cosplay. What's the agenda?”