Micah Challenge Australia Blog

 

The Micah Challenge blog is a space for discussion and debate about the issues of global poverty, faith, advocacy and justice and the Millennium Development Goals. This blog aims to provoke thought and challenge you to learn more about the issues discussed. We welcome your comments.

Micah Challenge is a global campaign of Christians speaking out against poverty and injustice. Click here to visit the Micah Challenge website.

  • Christians create mock tax haven in Brisbane prior to G20

    Posted by Micah

    11 November, 2014

    The following article on our advocacy activities in Brisbane last weekend was originally published by Eternity online newspaper on Monday 10 November, 2014. Approximately 100 advocates from churches across Brisbane dressed as corporate accountants transformed part of Brisbane’s CBD into a tax evader’s paradise of palm trees, mocktails, beach chairs and briefcases on the weekend to shed light on the issue of multinational tax dodging. In the lead up to the G20 Leaders’ Summit that starts on Saturday (15 Nov), Micah Challenge’s “shine the light” campaign has been engaging Australian Christians in efforts to promote greater transparency in the global financial system for one primary aim – that poor nations would have greater access to tax revenue which is rightfully theirs. John Beckett, Micah Challenge’s National Coordinator, believes a lot is at stake when the world’s most powerful leaders meet in Brisbane this month. “Actions to crack down on tax dodging by multinational companies are already on the… read more

    Comment on this post

  • The Next Major Breakthrough In Ending Poverty

    Posted by John

    8 July, 2014

    Last week a story appeared in our national papers highlighting the fact that Glencore, the third largest multinational mining company operating in Australia, had earned $15 billion in profits over the last 3 years, yet they had paid zero taxes! That’s outrageous by anyone’s standards. This is not a new problem. For decades an intricate system of tax havens has been developing across our world which facilitates secrecy in financial transactions and enables dodgy deals by corrupt government officials and criminals. But contrary to popular misconceptions, this is not primarily a problem caused by corrupt dictators and criminals. Of all the money that flows out of poor countries, 65% of it is taken out by multinational companies who are dodging paying their fair share of tax. Each year developing countries lose at least $160 billion from this tax dodging. This is more money than these countries receive in aid. This is money that rightfully belongs to the citizens of these poor countries. Politicians have known about this problem for a long time, but… read more

    Comment on this post

  • Encouragement gained from Voices for Justice

    Posted by Joel

    27 June, 2014

    If you've never been and you're planning to go to Australia this time of year, make sure you take an umbrella and something warm to wear. The place is not about beaches and heat waves all the year around. Whatever Australians say about constitutional freedom from Britain, the weather in Canberra (the political HQ of the Australian people), seemed planned to make me feel like I was home again. But that's just me getting my own back. My three days with Voices For Justice, the annual training ground for political lobbying run by Micah Challenge Australia, was a massive adrenalin boost. Over 200 individuals from almost every state in the country spent four days in the capital challenging their politicians on global tax dodging which amounts to the loss of over US$160 billion from the poorest people in the world every year. Those who attended came from a wide spectrum of ages, churches and cultures. And the marvel of it, was that the vast majority of these lobbyists had no prior experience in advocacy before they came to Voices For Justice. Tax… read more

    Comment on this post

  • Voices for Justice 2014 Final Day

    Posted by Benton

    24 June, 2014

    Day 4 started in complete contrast. The early morning weather in Canberra was comparable to a Siberia winter….and raining, but the mood inside was vibrant as 220 Christians once again entered Parliament House to speak up for the poor, the vulnerable and the forgotten. The day started with two media events where Joel Edwards and Dereje Alemayehu spoke with passion about the global Shine the Light campaign. What an incredible movement where an open letter asking governments around the world to act on Tax Dodging and Corruption for the sake of the poor has been signed by over 80 global church leaders that represent a rough constituency of 1 billion people! I was inspired by Joel’s exhortation to us and to the global church to dream of a world put to rights and then get on with the hard yards of participating in God’s mission to finish what was started in and through Jesus. Joel also shared a quote from Tom Wright’s Simply Christian which I think is particularly pertinent to our time at Voices for Justice and demonstrates what that… read more

    Comment on this post

Category:
Page 2 of 24
1  2  3  4  5  6 
Archived Blog entries