People
The Australian Robin Hood Tax campaign is part of a global movement growing at an unprecedented rate. From politicians to economists, it has attracted some of the finest minds of our generation, both abroad and at home.
Local
Renowned philosopher and ethicist Professor Peter Singer, international banking expert Professor Ross Buckley, political satirist Julian Morrow and Reverend Tim Costello are just some of the Australian public figures to have come together in support of the Robin Hood Tax.
“For the first time in history we have the ability to eradicate large-scale extreme poverty and the suffering it brings. The question is whether we have the will to do it. Growing support for a global financial transaction tax – known as the Robin Hood Tax – offers an exciting glimmer of hope this really could happen.”
Professor Peter Singer, philosopher and ethicist
“It took 60 years to give $100 billion to developing countries, and we promised another $100 billion at Copenhagen. So this is why there is serious enthusiasm about this idea. It has gravitas.”
Reverend Tim Costello, CEO, World Vision Australia
“The Robin Hood tax will give governments more money to pay off debt and fight poverty, and stabilise the financial system without deterring meaningful trade. Australia should take the lead in urging all G20 nations to adopt it.”
Julian Morrow, comedian and TV producer
“The global financial crisis has highlighted the limits of unregulated markets. The time to introduce fundamental change is now. The world needs this tax and Australia needs to start pressing for it, now.”
Ross Buckley, professor of international finance law at the University of NSW
“Eight hundred years on, it seems Robin Hood is on the ride once more. Certainly, the need to redistribute just a fraction of the world’s wealth to those most in need is just as pressing as ever.”
Jo-Anne Schofield is the executive director of Catalyst Australia.
Global
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, billionaire financier Warren Buffet, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and actors Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Sienna Miller and Ben Kingsley are just some of the global personalities to have openly backed the Robin Hood Tax.
“Wall Street has had the most profitable year in its history. It made profits of $55 billion in the midst of the biggest downturn since the Great Depression. Bankers are brazenly smirking as they pocket large amounts of our money. [A Robin Hood Tax] would be a low tax harmonised across countries. It is a progressive and non-distortionary tax.”
Jeffrey Sachs, economist, author and professor at Columbia University, New York
“Does anybody seriously believe that anything happens because of the sort of micro-second trading we’re now seeing? It’s a function of speed. No investments are being made as a result of it, no jobs are being created. Finance has a vital socially important role to fulfil, which is to raise capital, to run payment systems, to oil the wheels of everything society does. But the bankers fail to perform that socially useful function — and because of that, the world’s economy has suffered.”
Joseph Stiglitz, American Nobel Prize-winning economist
“The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny levy that could make the difference to many people in the UK and abroad, that will cost us personally nothing.”
Bill Nighy, actor and spokesperson for the Robin Hood Tax UK
For media comment on the Robin Hood Tax campaign, contact robinhoodtax@jubileeaustralia.org
