On Wednesday 8th October 2025, I made a speech about big corporations paying no tax
Transcript:
Ms WATSON-BROWN (Ryan): If you're a nurse, a teacher or a small-business owner living in my electorate of Ryan, you paid more income tax than almost a third of Australia's largest companies. We need a public register of ultimate beneficial ownership, because billionaires and massive multinational corporations hide behind trusts and shadowy corporate structures to avoid accountability and to avoid paying their fair share of tax. Are you one of the lucky one in three massive multinational corporations that pays no tax in Australia?
Let's take a stroll down the corporate tax avoidance lane. The world's biggest meat producer, JBS, made $19 billion in income and paid zero dollars in tax. Massive gas and energy producer AGL made $12 billion in income and paid zero dollars in tax. Massive mining corporation Santos made $8 billion in income and paid zero dollars in tax. Transurban, the infrastructure company that owns and operates almost every toll road in Brisbane, received $3.2 billion in income and paid $0 in tax. Rupert Murdoch's media empire, News Australia Holdings, received $1.8 billion in income and paid $0 in tax. Microsoft's data centre in Australia received $1.5 billion in income. Guess what? They paid $0 in tax. Sony Australia received $1.5 billion in income and paid $0 in tax. Netflix Australia received $1.1 billion in income and paid $0 in tax. Optus telecom, infamous for its recent triple 0 outages, and its parent company received $8 billion in income and paid $0 in tax. You'd think, with that income, wouldn't you, that they could afford to spend some on reliable services for Australians.