Senator EDWARDS (South Australia) (16:03): It pleases me to rise to speak on this issue today: The Treasurer’s failure to tackle corporate tax evasion. Senator Milne, it would— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Edwards! Through the chair! Senator EDWARDS: I do take note of Senator Milne's contribution. It would be the usual links that the Greens have with an Iraq war and the carbon tax comes into play. Why, I am not really quite sure, because when you were in your three years of coalition we did not hear any of these things from you in your cosy coalition with the Labor Party then, who were in government. In actual fact it is indeed this government which has gone about the reform that this country requires. It is somewhat shrill to see this here, as if it is some kind of new issue that has beset countries all around the world and indeed Australia. I notice that Senator Milne's contribution referred to the G20. Well, we put it on the agenda in the G20. This is a global issue. This is something that we are very concerned about. To come into this chamber and suggest that we are not concerned about it and suggest they, the Australian Greens party, are the only ones with the moral and economic guidance of Australia today—what absolute nonsense. It just highlights the Greens populism and the crass dishonest politicking they do often resort to when they reach to please their electoral fringe. It is the coalition government that has asked the commissioner of taxation to redouble his efforts in tax avoidance. I did not hear anything from the Greens party when they were in their cosy coalition—nothing at all. Senator Dastyari: 4,700 less staff! Senator EDWARDS: Oh, we've just had a little thought bubble over there! Let's have a go at this. We are on the job. We have been in over 12 months and we are on the world stage with this one. Senator Dastyari interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator EDWARDS: In the conduct of tax reform of this nature, no nation can allow itself to be an island. Reform in isolation would only lead to the transfer of our economic activity to other jurisdictions. Senator Dastyari interjecting— Senator EDWARDS: Have you ever heard of that? That's right, we did that with a carbon tax, didn't we. We had the carbon tax that we were going to lead the world with. Unfortunately, the world did not follow us. So here we are again going to do something in isolation. Come on! It is a globalised place out there now and all we do if we do it in isolation is export the jobs. It is a global issue and that is why it was brought up on the global stage. At least in the contribution that the Leader of the Greens made they did refer to the G20, which is the appropriate global forum for this to be brought up at. To date the important work of this government covers 15 specific action items to address tax avoidance by multinational companies. I will give some idea to those that may be listening to this contribution. It includes increasing transparency in the tax system through country-by-country reporting, which will provide tax authorities with a clear overview of the location of profits, sales and assets, and where taxes are to be paid and accrued. I hope you are taking note, because this is actually going on. This is not just some empty little thought bubble in the morning: 'What are we going to have an urgency motion about in the chamber today?' The Greens say that businesses are shirking their responsibility and that the tax system is principally funded by the poor, who they say are subsidising the rich, who in turn do not pay their taxes either. That is not just a gross falsehood and intellectually dishonest; it is so easily shot down with the red pen of anyone informed in these matters. One wonders how such an argument can possibly take flight in the first place. Well, it takes flight because it suits the Greens' politics of envy. This is their special brand of dog whistling. That is why they so eagerly pushed the recent report by the Tax Justice Network. What a lovely cover that is! It sounds nice! The report is a piece of fiscal fiction that should embarrass its supporters as much as its authors. It is claimed that the ATO is missing out on $8 billion in forgone revenues due to tax avoidance. You do not think that we would be onto that? We are all over here playing golf every day that we come to work! I might note who the authors actually are. The Tax Justice Network consists of such unions and left-wing activist groups as the ACTU, the Australian Education Union, Greenpeace, Oxfam Australia and Victorian Trades Hall. Senator Dastyari: Oh no! Not Oxfam! Senator EDWARDS: Yes; damn right. If a study being associated with such groups does not afford it some intellectual scepticism in the first place, the report's methodology surely does. The authors added the average tax paid by ASX 200 companies during the last decade, compared that to pre-tax profits and determined that a tax rate of 23 per cent was paid, rather than the statutory rate of 30 per cent. I notice that Senator Milne referred to former ATO people that go and work in private companies. Grant Wardell-Jones is at one of those big firms. He is a senior tax partner at KPMG, and he said the following in the press: These statistical assertions are clearly misleading and are a misuse of information. Time available does not afford an adequate opportunity to lay out the flaws in their embarrassing fullness. Suffice to say— Senator Dastyari interjecting— Senator EDWARDS: Through you, Mr Deputy President, I will take that interjection from Senator Dastyari, because he obviously wants to be on the Hansard. This report uses the amount of tax a company pays as a percentage of reported profits—you might learn something here—compared with the statutory corporate tax rate of 30 per cent to calculate effective tax rates. That is reasonable. This analysis is flawed as the tax rate is not applied to accounting profit but applied to taxable income. That is another good point. There are significant differences between accounting and tax profit, such as: the treatment of capital gains and losses, recognition of foreign income, treatment of franking credits, and a tax system delivering some programs like research and development incentives and small business tax breaks. But that is all a little bit complicated for you over on the other side. That would be looking at in the way in which it actually plays out around the world. Those are international accounting policies, not political policymaking on the run. The thought bubble this morning that brought this matter of urgency to the chamber is surely that. Companies release accounting notes to reconcile current and deferred tax and they explain significant tax issues and what may appear otherwise to be discrepancies. The report did not analyse those notes but simply applied the 30 per cent headline rate to cash profits and labelled the difference tax avoided or evaded. That is not a research document; it is a slur—a slur that the Greens eagerly associate themselves with and use as the basis of statements like that today. Any accountant worth his salt can go through any of this contribution that I have made, and they can put my argument up against your argument and see how you go. I notice that Senator Whish-Wilson is in the chamber. He comes from a finance background, and he might like to get up and confirm that what I have just said is true and accurate, rather than what is being peddled around the place. I will be interested to hear it from here. The coalition is proud of its work in this space. We have done more work than those on the other side did in six years. Labor's record on tax during that time consisted of some matters that are a little less pride-worthy, including a $9 billion carbon tax—by the way, you have pledged to bring that back in if re-elected, haven't you? You are going to bring that back in. They brought in a mining tax that raised 2.5c per Australian in its last quarter but had billions of dollars of linked expenditure; a chaotic fringe benefits tax, and the shadow Treasurer has insinuated Labor will bring this back as well; shock changes to employee share schemes; and 90 unimplemented tax changes. (Time expired)