The policy priorities we highlighted during the previous election
The Australian Progressives economic policy is underpinned by the concept of an embedded economy. An embedded economy sits within both the human-built and natural environmental world. Traditional economic thinking cannot be divorced from ecological catastrophes because the narrow inputs-outputs thinking has ignored the build up of waste and stress on ecological systems for centuries. A more holistic approach is long overdue to restore balance to human activity and environmental flourishing.
We use the term economic justice because traditional economic assumptions have grossly ignored both the depth of individual human thought and our intrinsic social desires, as well as the limiting factors of uneven wealth distribution - relative advantages and disadvantages for individuals that build over time creating multi-generational poverty traps or dynastic wealth unable to be spent within a lifetime.
Poverty
The Australian Progressives support:
- Policies which commit parliament to tracking and reporting the inequality factors in any policy choices.
- Policies to end poverty & homelessness.
Tax Reform
The Australian Progressives will:
- Raise the Income Tax-Free Threshold, to ensure no Australian living in poverty is liable for taxation on their income.
- Review the GST, and support the application of GST to Private School fees.
- Review income tax brackets biannually.
- Recognise that all Australians should retain at least 50% of their income (before the application of the Medicare Levy). Therefore, the Australian Progressives will not support any attempt to raise any income tax bracket to 50%.
- Implement a Foreign Transactions Tax of 0.1% for all transactions over $1,000,000, in order to crack down on tax dodging through finance shifting.
- Review Capital Gains Tax concessions, with an aim to improve targeting.
- Support the recommendations of the 2017 Black Economy Taskforce
- Enhance the workforce of the Australian Taxation Office, and other Financial Oversight authorities.
- Oppose further changes to the GST that might shift the tax burden onto low income earners.
- Support policies that de-prioritise tax advantages favouring “rent seeking” and speculation rather than a person’s self earned income.
- Support efforts to introduce a national tax on Australia's resource rents.
- Push for a review into the taxation arrangement of trusts.
- Support the public disclosure of tax affairs in the public good for transparency reasons.
- Advocate for the implementation of a wealth tax.
- Commit to conduct a Parliamentary Review of the Tax Act.
Superannuation reform
The Australian Progressives support:
- Compulsory superannuation, but with reforms to improve its usefulness in providing for retirement.
- Increasing compulsory super contributions to 15%.
- The progressive taxation of Superannuation contributions and earnings.
- Reform to super contribution taxation so individuals receive a 15% tax discount on their marginal income tax rate.
- Efforts to reintroduce the low earner supplement.
- Policies to regulate management fees and introduce a “default fund” tender process.
- The Australian Progressives oppose proposals for the use of Superannuation for housing or other non-retirement investments.
Housing
The Australian Progressives will:
- Prioritise housing as shelter and a home to live in over tax minimisation/investment.
- Phase out negative gearing.
- Phase in a cap on deductions for current arrangements.
- Eliminate Capital Gains Tax Exemptions.
- Enforce the application of anti-money laundering measures to property.
- Phase out Stamp duty in favour of a broad land value tax.
- The Australian Progressives oppose broad “first-time buyer” cash grant schemes.
Social Security
The Australian Progressives will:
- Re-establish the national unemployment support services with increased access to job seeker services, including subsidised training and development and regional employment schemes.
- Empower people to actively contribute to their communities either as paid employees or as volunteers through local government administered, Commonwealth funded programs and services.
- Review indexation rates to ensure the accurate cost of living is captured and reflected in payment structures.
- Upon election, legislate for an immediate increase of payments to all single social security recipients of $100 per week and initiate a payment and indexation review to determine ongoing payment rates to keep Australians out of poverty.
- Legislate the removal of the inherent disincentives to work in the current payment structures and implement progressive means testing to prevent income loss as wages increase and negate excess tax rates.
- Review asset shifting to clamp down on the practice of wealth transfer.
- Fund public housing and alternative housing options for low income earners and people experiencing homelessness.
- The Australian Progressives support capped higher education contribution rates for all tertiary students.
- Support increased superannuation pre-tax contribution limits up to $50,000 for all people aged more than 50 years with low superannuation balances of less than $100,000.
- Legislate an increase to carers allowance of an additional $50 per fortnight.
- Support the implementation of a Universal Basic Income in Australia.
- Advocate to raise the Single Parents Pension cut-off age to when the youngest child reaches 16.
- Support policies with the aim of including a superannuation contribution on all parenting and carers payments.
- Push for a review of the Child Support System, with an aim to ensure equity and compliance.
- Commit to addressing government processes to ensure that Centrelink applications and payments are processed in reasonable timeframes.
- Support reinstating the Schoolkids Bonus.
- Support the ending of mutual obligations.
- Advocate to ban the Indue Cashless Welfare Card.
Small Business
Australian Progressives support:
- Policies to level the playing field between small and family businesses, and established major business and trans-national corporations (TNCs)
- Policies to provide an independent mechanism to reduce the pressures created by large corporate landlords.
- Policies that provide protections from large retailers using their market share to unreasonably pressure small suppliers.
- The removal of “lock-out” type arrangements that large suppliers lock in excluding smaller suppliers.
- Policy to enact “Preferred Small Business” programs in government procurement.
- Policies to create a Government co-investment fund for R&D in local industries
- Policies that provide small business with incentives for staff training and investment.
Working Week
- We will push for increasing workers’ access to flexibility in their working hours, locations and conditions without financial or job security impacts.
Relative Earnings
- The Australian Progressives support capping CEO remuneration at 10,000% of the lowest paid employee, with appropriate restrictions to prevent low-paid job outsourcing.
Entry level and Graduate Employment incentives
- We support a 0.25% to 0.75% company tax break for businesses that employ 10% entry-level and graduates as a proportion of staff.
Foreign trade agreements
- We are opposed to trade agreements that take away from the nation's sovereign powers and are heavily weighted to the interests of multinational corporations at the expense of local businesses and jobs.
- The Australian Progressives will withdraw Australia from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Older Workers
- We will back policy that provides employment incentive schemes for mature age groups.
Trade Unions
- The Australian Progressives are opposed to attempts to undermine the ability of workers to form trade unions and collectively bargain.