2023-05-02
The Victorians Greens have called on the Victorian Labor Government to make the big banks, property developers, gambling industry and profiteering corporations pay their fair share of tax in the upcoming state budget.
The Greens say this and a range of savings measures such criminal justice reform could raise between $30 and $40 billion dollars, according to independent costings they have obtained from the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Right now the big banks and corporations are reaping massive profits, significantly pushing up the cost-of-living and driving inflation.
Yet the Victorian Labor Government is reportedly set to cut funding to essential services and axe thousands of public sector jobs.
Victoria is already contending with massive social and environmental deficits with:
- The cost-of-living rising and workers experiencing the biggest fall in wages on record.
- Homelessness increasing and the public housing waiting list continuing to rise above 100,000 people.
- People waiting over 16 months on the public dental waiting list for treatment and young experiencing mental ill-health facing wait times of 6 to 12 months.
- Victorian ecosystems on the brink of collapse and the number of threatened species continuing to rise.
The Greens say an austerity budget will only make things worse for people in need and our environment
Victorian Greens’ treasury spokesperson, Sam Hibbins, said by focusing on revenue raising measures – like a ‘Big Bank Levy’, an affordable housing levy, doubling the online betting tax and overdue justice reform – the state could use that money to fund the things people need.
This includes more affordable and public housing, higher wages for public sector workers like nurses and teachers, a Zero Extinction Fund for threatened species, and more free GPs, dentists and psychologists.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens treasury spokesperson, Sam Hibbins MP:
“The government has a clear choice in this budget: either tax the profiteering corporations, or push people even further to the margins and make the extinction crisis worse.
“It would be unconscionable for the government to deliver an austerity budget while people and the planet suffer, and the big banks, developers, the gambling industry and corporations profiteer off the cost-of-living crisis.
“The state budget must address the urgent social and environmental challenges Victoria faces, with more public and affordable housing, higher wages through scrapping the public sector wage cap, more funding for threatened species and making it easier for people to see a GP, dentist or psychologist.
“For us the choice is clear.”