The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) has released a 32-page policy blueprint ahead of the Labor Party's national conference in Adelaide, calling for a new marginal tax rate for incomes above $500,000, an annual wealth tax excluding the family home, an inheritance tax on large bequests, and higher taxes on gas exports. The document describes Australia's tax system as 'rigged in favour of private wealth accumulation and speculation.'
Tax Reforms and Revenue Measures
The AMWU proposes a new top marginal tax rate for those earning over $500,000, above the current 47% rate (including Medicare levy) for incomes over $190,000. It advocates for an annual wealth tax on assets excluding the family home and an inheritance tax on large bequests to prevent 'intergenerational concentration' of wealth. The blueprint also calls for fundamental reform of the petroleum resource rent tax to extract more revenue from gas companies.
Labor is expected to make an in-principle commitment to fairer resource taxation at the conference, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is not considering a gas tax due to Middle East uncertainty. The union supports winding back fuel tax credits for large mining companies, a topic also up for debate.
Social Policies and Spending
The extra revenue would fund raising the JobSeeker rate, making all education from childcare to university free, adding dental to Medicare, and nationalising aged care. The AMWU says welfare should be a 'right, not a precarious privilege.' The blueprint also proposes worker veto rights over AI use in workplaces and the ability to negotiate for a share of AI-generated revenue.
On Indigenous issues, the document calls for enacting the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including a Voice to Parliament, and abolishing symbols of 'colonial oppression' like the Union Jack on the Australian flag.
Context and Impact
The manifesto, described as a 'working-class instruction to the government,' has not been costed and goes beyond what the Albanese government would likely adopt. However, the AMWU is a prominent progressive voice; it previously advocated winding back property investor tax concessions before the government pursued it. The blueprint will frame debates at the Labor conference from Thursday to Saturday, where MPs, unions, and rank-and-file members will set party policy. The union declined to comment on whether it will specifically push these ideas at the conference.
