Australia’s top minds unite to fight for global financial reform
PRESS RELEASE: 30 MARCH 2010
Renowned Australian philosopher and ethicist Professor Peter Singer, international banking expert Professor Ross Buckley, political satirist Julian Morrow and Reverend Tim Costello have come together to support Australia’s involvement in a worldwide initiative to reduce global financial instability called the Robin Hood Tax. Peter Singer, Ross Buckley, Julian Morrow and Tim Costello are available for interview Tuesday March 30.
The Robin Hood Tax Campaign calls for an 0.05 percent tax on speculative banking transactions (called a financial transaction tax, ‘FTT’), which would raise as much as US$400 billion annually for poverty reduction, climate change action, and investment in domestic health, education and more. Its goal is to build on the current momentum among world leaders and the public interest following the GFC, to achieve support for an FTT which is on the agenda at the G20 in Toronto in June 2010 (please see attached FAQs for a background to this campaign for the Robin Hood tax).
Following the launch of the Robin Hood Tax campaign in the UK, Gordon Brown, and other world leaders including Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, Nancy Pelosi, have been supportive of the implementation of the tax. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is yet to make his position on the tax known. In stark contrast to many OECD members, the strength of Australia’s economy and history of strict financial regulation presents an unparalleled opportunity for Australia to position itself as a world leader in championing this global financial reform.
Peter Singer says ‘The global response to the recent financial crisis shows that trillions of dollars can be mobilized at barely a moment’s notice when governments think the stakes are high enough. The idea of a tax on international financial transactions, with the money going to help the poor, has been around for decades but without going anywhere. Now 350 economists from more than 35 countries, including Sachs and the Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, have signed a letter to the leaders of the G20 countries calling on them to impose a tax on financial transactions. Suddenly the leaders of Europe’s three biggest economies – Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown – have been promoting a financial transaction tax as a way to fulfill commitments to domestic budgets, climate change and international development.’
The Australian Robin Hood Tax campaign is part of an international movement growing at an unprecedented rate. A worldwide coalition of economists, charities, aid agencies, unions, green groups and celebrities joins a broad alliance of over a dozen Australian charities and organisations, including Jubilee, Oxfam, World Vision and Greenpeace, as well as leading academics, policy experts, economists and writers. Richard Curtis, together with fellow thespian Bill Nighy, has created the following clip to explain the Robin Hood Tax: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtNwmXKIvM
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Peter Singer, Ross Buckley, Julian Morrow and Tim Costello are available for interview Tuesday March 30.
For further information please contact:
Debbie McInnes, Director DMCPR Tel: 02 9550 9207 | Mob: 0412 818 071 | E: debbie@dmcpr.com.au
Luke Fletcher, Campaign Coordinator – Robin Hood Tax Tel: 0432 260104 luke@jubileeaustralia.org
See a full list of supporters Australia
