May 12, 2016

New Petition Demands PM Malcolm Turnbull Release Personal Tax Returns After Being Mentioned in the Panama Papers

SumOfUs Petition urges Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to Release Personal Tax Returns After New Evidence Reportedly Released in Panama Papers

Last night, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was outed as a former director and board member of Star Mining NL, a mining company set up in the British Virgins Islands by the law firm Mossack Fonseca, according to most recent release from the Panama Papers. In response to the news, SumOfUs, an international corporate watchdog, with more than 330,000 members in Australia, has just launched a new petition demanding that Turnball immediately disclose his tax returns, dating from his time as the Director of an offshore firm, to assure voters that their Prime Minister is not involved in any tax-dodging schemes.

View the petition here: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/turnbull-come-clean

This isn’t the first time Prime Minister Turnbull was involved in a tax-dodging scheme. Last year, Turnbull was forced to alter his own declared interests to include the notorious Ugland house, said to be sheltering as many as 19,000 offshore corporations.

“Australia’s biggest companies are stashing untold billions offshore, and Turnbull has stood up for them over and over again. Now we know why – because he and his millionaire friends profit,” said Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, an Australian citizen and founder of SumOfUs. “It’s time that Turnbull comes clean about his full history, and releases his tax returns. Accountability starts here.”

“This goes much deeper than one man, even our own Prime Minister. These leaks show clear evidence that we need legislative action on tax avoidance. We need big corporations and the wealthy elite to pay their fair share, so hardworking middle class citizens don't have to foot the bill — or miss out on vital public services. We're already facing cuts to the tune of billions, affecting everything from health to education — and we can't afford to take any more. When big corporations and the wealthy elite do not pay their fair share of tax, we’re the ones who lose out.”