Australians are being fleeced but bringing back manufacturing will fix it - Senate 24.03.23

A topic I am very passionate about is restoring manufacturing industries in Australia.

To do this Australia needs:

1. Cheap and reliable baseload energy sourced from our own natural resources, in which Australia has a natural competitive advantage

2. The abolition of payroll tax funded by the re-introduction of stamp duty on share trading.

3. Increasing the tax rate on profits transferred offshore to fund a cut in income taxes for Australian workers.

No one ever asked General Motors or any other multinational how much in interest, royalties and rent they transfer offshore. The answer is they pay as much as they can offshore because the rate of withholding tax rate on "above the line profits" is usually much lower than the rate of tax on onshore profits.

Our tax act therefore subsidises the transfer of profits offshore rather than encouraging earnings to be retained here in Australia.

The so called National Reconstruction Fund bill is nothing but a slush fund for renewables with a misleading name. Coal and gas projects, which are locally produced have been excluded from the fund. On the other hand foreign owned or built renewables can apply for assistance.

The best way to get manufacturing back in Australia is to stop rorts like these.