Tax the rich, says Brotherhood of St Laurence
By Peter Boyle
MELBOURNE — According to Bishop Michael Challen, executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence (a major welfare organisation) "incomes at the bottom of the scale must be improved and those at the top should be prepared to pay more taxes. Vulnerable employees should also be protected within the industrial relations system".
In a special statement issued on February 22, Bishop Challen challenged the major parties contesting the federal elections to make urgent human needs their priority. This, he said, meant that an incoming government should:
- make full employment its central strategy;
- ensure there is a fairer sharing of sacrifice in the aftermath of the recession;
- recognise the responsibilities of a national government in protecting and enhancing the lives of its citizens; and
- support policies which provide a fair chance for all Australians.
"Any party not willing to assert these priorities is unlikely to do anything within its term to substantially protect or improve the position of the now millions of low-income and unemployed Australians", said Bishop Challen.
"The problems faced are not dry, abstract, economic theories, though the language of politics increasingly distances them this way", he continued. "The problems are human, concrete and urgent, and in this campaign we should be talking about them — a million people unemployed, hundreds of thousands living in poverty and declining public services.
"The sad fact is that neither major party seems willing to commit itself to full employment as a focus for administration: that is, to aim for a situation where anyone who wants work can find it. Without such an aim and concerted effort towards its achievement, it is unlikely that unemployment — and particularly the number of long-term unemployed people — will be significantly reduced".
He said that the Brotherhood would closely examine the major parties' proposals to increase, reduce or recast government spending on services such as health, housing, education and child-care, to ensure that lower income families will not be worse off as a result of their proposals.