MOTIONS › Socioeconomic Inequality and Marginal Tax Rates
Senator BOB BROWN (Tasmania—Leader of the Australian Greens) (15:36): I move: That the Senate— (a) notes the recent survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which showed that the gap between rich and poor is widening in Australia; (b) understands why growing inequality along with corporate greed are motivating the 'Occupy' protest movements; (c) notes that, in the United States of America, billionaire Warren Buffett has observed that he pays a smaller proportion of his income in tax than do the other people in his office; and (d) calls for a 50 per cent marginal tax rate on incomes of more than $1 million per annum. Question put. The Senate divided. [15:41] (The Deputy President—Senator Parry) Question negatived.