http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...progress-on-debt/story-fn59niix-1226168064896
"... Mr Swan rejected a favoured policy response of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who declared last week that countries such as the US, Britain and Australia should drop their opposition to the imposition of a new tax on financial services.
Such a tax has been proposed to raise funds to fight climate change, but Ms Merkel says it should now be used to generate resources to strengthen the financial system.
"It is not possible that those outside the eurozone who are asking Europe to act are at the same time refusing a financial transaction tax," Ms Merkel said last week.
Mr Swan said he had never been a fan of the idea and was even less enamoured of it now that Australia was about to adopt a carbon tax.
"We have just put an economy-wide price on carbon pollution so using a new financial transactions tax to fund climate-change action is irrelevant to us," he said.
"The Europeans are now talking about a financial transaction tax - not for climate change but to shore up their financial institutions and financial institutions don't need shoring up. I don't know why anyone else would think that they should engage in that if they don't have that problem."
"... Mr Swan rejected a favoured policy response of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who declared last week that countries such as the US, Britain and Australia should drop their opposition to the imposition of a new tax on financial services.
Such a tax has been proposed to raise funds to fight climate change, but Ms Merkel says it should now be used to generate resources to strengthen the financial system.
"It is not possible that those outside the eurozone who are asking Europe to act are at the same time refusing a financial transaction tax," Ms Merkel said last week.
Mr Swan said he had never been a fan of the idea and was even less enamoured of it now that Australia was about to adopt a carbon tax.
"We have just put an economy-wide price on carbon pollution so using a new financial transactions tax to fund climate-change action is irrelevant to us," he said.
"The Europeans are now talking about a financial transaction tax - not for climate change but to shore up their financial institutions and financial institutions don't need shoring up. I don't know why anyone else would think that they should engage in that if they don't have that problem."
