Irrespective of whether we as a nation accept or don’t accept the science behind climate change, Australians are being forced to deal with an increasing number of disasters. Despite the herculean efforts of so many Australians, many volunteers, others salaried staff from multiple agencies and institutions, the current spate of bushfires around the nation highlights we, as a people, are not adequately prepared for what is ahead of us. Whether our political leaders pass legislation to tackle the current climate emergency or not, Australia needs to have structures in place to deal with the increasing number of disasters we are facing.
We need to establish 50 Disaster Response Centres around Australia that are staffed and resourced to deal with disasters as they occur. Land for these centres would be provided by State and Territory governments. Staff and resources would be provided by the Federal government. These centres would have plans in place to work with both volunteer and salaried forces in the communities that are trying to deal with disasters, which in many cases are beyond their current resource and staffing capabilities.
An initial investment of 5 billion dollars by the Federal government would build 50 Disaster Response Centres. The introduction of a 1% stock market tax which would automatically be levied every time a stock or share is bought or sold on the Australian stock market, would raise anywhere between 25 to 50 billion dollars a year. This would be more than enough money to adequately resource and staff these new centres.
This new tax would also provide an ongoing pool of Federal money to assist and compensate those Australians who need to rebuild their lives after a disaster. Considering the billions of taxpayer dollars stock and share holders currently receive in franking credits every year and how publicly listed companies are the biggest contributors to the climate emergency we all face, it’s only fair they make this small sacrifice for their fellow Australians.
Dr. Joseph Toscano – Registered Officer Public Interests Before Corporate Interests