Banks should be working for all of us, but the Royal Commission has shown us that they’ve racked up super profits off the back of shocking behaviour, and our governments are propping them up.
The banks make huge profits and should pay their fair share so we can properly fund our hospitals, schools, public transport and essential services.
The Greens plan for a levy on the big banks will generate over $1.5 billion over the next four years.
The levy will apply to banks operating in Victoria that are liable for the Federal Major Bank Levy. It will be set at 0.015 per cent per quarter of Victoria’s share of bank liabilities, which will be calculated using Victoria’s share of the national economy (currently approximately 23.6 per cent).
The big five banks made over $33 billion in profit last year, and their CEOs took home $50 million for themselves.
A levy on the big banks will return some of the super-profits of the banks to all Victorians.
The facts:
- Because they’re considered ‘too big to fail’, the major banks in Australia receive an implicit government subsidy that the Reserve Bank estimates was worth up to $3.7 billion in 2013 alone.
- This bank levy is modelled off the bank levy proposed by the former South Australian Labor Government, which was blocked by the Liberals and other conservatives in the South Australian Upper House of Parliament.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended a maximum levy on banks of 0.2 per cent. The Greens’ plan for a Victorian Bank Levy, even when combined with the existing Commonwealth Major Bank Levy, will sit well below the IMF’s recommended maximum.
- This plan has been fully costed by the Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office, and is the first publicly-released costing from the PBO since it was established some months ago. The PBO commenced providing policy costing services for the 2018 State Election in June 2018.