<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jul/21/manufacturing-union-says-australias-tax-system-is-rigged-in-bold-manifesto-ahead-of-labor-conference>
"A new tax rate for the highest income earners, introducing wealth and
inheritance taxes and extracting more revenue from gas companies form part of a
new leftwing manifesto circulating before the Labor party’s national
conference.
The extra tax revenue could help raise the jobseeker rate, make education –
including university – free, and nationalise aged care under what the
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) calls a blueprint for a
“working-class agenda”.
The AMWU describes the 32-page manifesto not as a “polite request” but a
“working-class instruction to the government on how to build a society that
actually works for us all”.
The union’s agenda has not been costed and goes well beyond what the Albanese
government would realistically consider adopting.
But the ideas will help frame the backdrop to Labor’s national conference in
Adelaide this week, where MPs, trade unions and rank-and-file members will
gather to thrash out the party’s policy platform.
The union for manufacturing workers is one of the loudest progressive voices in
the labour movement, strongly advocating for policies such as winding back
property investor tax concessions well before the Albanese government
eventually pursued it.
The new “blueprint for action” proposes a wide-ranging economic and social
policies aimed at putting wealth and power into the hands of working-class
people.
Describing the taxation system as “rigged in favour of private wealth
accumulation and speculation”, the document suggests a new marginal tax rate
for people earning above $500,000 a year.
The highest marginal tax rate is currently set at 47% – including the 2%
Medicare levy – and applies to income above $190,000.
The document advocates for an annual wealth tax on assets (excluding the family
home) and an inheritance tax on large bequests to prevent the
“intergenerational concentration” of wealth."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
