Agencies
The Australian arm of the Robin Hood Tax campaign unites a broad alliance of aid agencies, green groups, think tanks, unions and faith-based networks.
They have come together during the economic crisis to campaign for a new deal between the financial sector and society. Read what they have to say about the Robin Hood Tax below.
If your organisation would like to join the campaign, please email robinhoodtax@jubileeaustralia.org
Jubilee Australia: Those who live in the reality of extreme poverty are on the frontline in the struggle to end it. But their prospects for progress are limited by an international financial system that is unstable and works only in the interests of a few. The most recent financial crisis has opened up opportunities for long term change, like this proposal to implement a tax on financial transactions. Jubilee believes the time for transformational change has come.
World Vision Australia: A tiny and innovative tax on financial transactions will make a huge difference to the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. It is a significant contribution that the financial sector should make as governments, the corporate sector and civil society work together to tackle the causes of poverty.
Oxfam Australia: The global economic crisis and climate change are pushing millions of people worldwide into extreme poverty. It’s simply not fair for poor people to pay the price of mistakes made by rich bankers and rich countries. That’s why Oxfam is campaigning for a tax on speculative financial transactions.
Catalyst Australia: This tiny tax would provide a much needed revenue boost to invest in services like health, education and public transport not just in Australia but around the globe. We support a Robin Hood Tax because it aligns with our commitment to equity and fairness in the tax system and beyond.
AngliCORD: As an overseas relief and development agency, we are committed to building a peaceful, just and sustainable world for all. We believe the Robin Hood Tax will help make the financial industry part of the solution to global poverty, not just the source of the problem.
UnitingJustice Australia: The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny social responsibility tax that will contribute to shifting the balance of our economy away from the relentless pursuit of profit by a small minority and towards the common good. It will serve as a reminder to those who engage in risky financial transactions that their behaviour impacts upon us all
Justice & Mission Unit, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church of Australia
AFTINET: Reckless deregulation of financial services, encouraged by some free trade agreements, contributed to the GFC. Governments must have full rights to regulate financial institutions in the public interest, not limited by free trade agreements. A Robin Hood Tax would slow speculation and raise much needed revenue.
SEARCH Foundation: The SEARCH Foundation promotes democracy, social justice and environmental sustainability. The Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions is an important social justice response to the Great Recession of 2008-09, to constrain the global finance markets and to produce revenue for social services, jobs and environmental protection, especially in poor countries.
TEAR Australia: TEAR Australia supports the Robin Hood tax as a creative step towards a more just world, with more equitable distribution of the world’s resources. Resourcing effective aid and development work and helping poor countries cope with climate change with the funds has huge potential to have a positive impact in the communities that TEAR Australia works in partnership with.
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union: The Robin Hood Tax will see the world’s wealthiest financial institutions give back to the world’s poor and needy. The AWMU and our members are proud to support this proposal which will go some way to help millions of people across the globe recover the benefits that deregulation, over-financialisation and so-called ‘free trade’ have taken from them.
Australian Education Union
Australian Council for International Development is the peak body of Australian NGOs working in aid and development. Our vision is a world where gross inequality within societies and between nations is reversed and extreme poverty is eradicated; where human development is ecologically and socially sustainable for the benefit of current and future generations. We believe that a Financial Transactions Tax is an essential reform in realising such a world.
Australian Nursing Federation
ActionAid: The global financial crisis is continuing to clobber those who did least to create it. ActionAid believes a tiny tax on ‘wholesale’ financial markets is an important part of addressing that imbalance. A Robin Hood tax will raise billions towards fighting poverty and help people living in poverty to claim their human rights to a life of dignity.
Climate Action Network Australia: The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) is a very small levy applied to various categories of financial transactions including: stocks, bonds and currency. It is proposed that 25 per cent would go to help developing countries adapt to and mitigate against the impacts of climate change. As Climate Action Network International’s 500 groups have discussed, this could go some way to providing the $150bn/year required as international finance to cut emissions and address climate change-induced impacts.
Union Aid Aborad APHEDA: Imagine a world with no poverty. The Robin Hood Tax will raise enough money to do this in just a few short years.
Christian Blind Mission: 20% of the world’s poorest people live with a disability. We’re an organisation advocating for the rights of people with a disability, and we think the Robin Hood Tax is a great way to address global poverty – we want to make sure it’s used to build inclusive society.
Friends of the Earth: This would just be a a tiny tax on bankers but it could make a massive difference for people living in poverty and would generate funds for a range of important and necessary initiatives, including helping the global community cope with climate change, and would drive investment in sustainable development.
Act for Peace – National Council of Churches in Australia: It is criminal that people, who suffer due to extreme poverty and ongoing conflict, must now feel the destabilising effects of the global financial crisis. A tiny tax on financial institutions, which will help to secure human rights and development opportunities in peace and security: this is a transformational idea.
Australian Disability & Development Consortium: More than a billion people are estimated to live with some form of disability, or about 15% of the world’s population. Disability disproportionately affects vulnerable populations: results from the World Health Survey indicate higher disability prevalence in lower income countries than in higher income countries. People with disabilities are over-represented in the poorest of the poor: 1 in 5 people living in poverty have a disability or which 82% of people with disabilities live below the poverty line. A small financial contribution from a Financial Transactions Tax will make a significant difference to changing the lives of many and bring us closer to building an inclusive and just world.
The Australian Services Union (ASU) supports the Robin Hood Tax on financial transactions by institutions because it is a tiny impost to create the big changes needed for a better future for all. The proceeds would be available for underfunded sectors like health, education and other social services, creating a fairer Australia. It’s a creative and achievable solution which can result in large scale poverty eradication and address other global issues like climate change. The ASU represents workers in local government, airlines, energy, water, social & community services, private sector clerical & administrative, transport, info tech, etc.
Robin Hood Tax Coalition would also like to acknowledge the support of previous Coalition members The Evatt Foundation, International Womens Development Agency, Oikoumene Foundation and Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
