The Black Economy Taskforce: Dracula in charge of the blood bank, forcing everyone to give blood!

The Turnbull government established the Black Economy Taskforce in December 2016, under former KPMG global supremo Michael Andrew. The Taskforce produced its final report in October 2017—a quick turnaround that indicates the recommendations were likely pre-determined. The report is a chilling document that signals a clear intent to force radical changes in the behaviour of Australian citizens in order to support the sick, corrupt financial system.

As noted in the CEC’s release on Morrison’s cash ban (p. 3), KPMG is a cornerstone of the global black economy, an accomplice in money laundering and tax evasion on a vast scale. This global black economy is exposed in the book Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World, by Nicholas Shaxson, and in the film based on that book, The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire. They prove that the infrastructure and laws that facilitate drug and terrorism money laundering, tax evasion and flight capital on a massive scale were deliberately set up by the British government in its remaining colonies, mainly in the Caribbean; other governments have since copied the British. The big four global accounting firms are at the centre of this infrastructure, often writing the laws that parliaments pass to enable this black economy to function. The Australian government, and all governments, know all this, and go along with it.

To say, therefore, that having the boss of KPMG chair this taskforce is like Dracula in charge of the blood bank is an understatement! He’s not just in charge, he’s forcing everyone to donate blood! This report is a complete fraud, as these excerpts show:

“The black economy is manifestly unfair, allowing some to play by their own rules and penalising businesses, employees and consumers who do the right thing. Under cover of the black economy, vulnerable workers are exploited, criminal groups flourish and social capital and trust are undermined.” Everything in this statement is true, except it isn’t Australian tradies at fault, it is KPMG and its accomplices!

It demands: “A sense of urgency is needed from policymakers, leaving behind business-as-usual approaches from the past. ... Combating the black economy is not just a matter for governments. We all need to be part of the solution. We need a new social contract....” Again, very rich coming from a boss of KPMG, but this is where it gets sinister, because what is meant by leaving behind business-as-usual and a new social contract?

Besides the ban on cash, the report recommends:

•  All wages paid into bank accounts, and not in cash;
•  Incentives for small business to move entirely to noncash transactions;
•  An Orwellian federal identity system for individuals biometrically linked to mobile phone;
•  The government increase the level and visibility of enforcement and prosecutions;
•  The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) be designated as a law enforcement agency, with powers to obtain bank information;
•  Reversing the onus of proof for certain black economy offences;
•  A social engineering program, dressed up as behavioural economics, to “shape societal norms”.

The last point would be hilarious if it weren’t so serious. Without a trace of irony, the tax-dodging-KPMG-written report pontificates: “The message to the community has to be as clear. If you are asking for, making or accepting under-the-table cash payments, you are part of the problem. It does not matter how small the amounts involved are or for what purpose, whether child care, renovations, a haircut or car repair. The same conclusion applies. When you are part of the black economy, you are short-changing your fellow citizens. You are contributing to billions of dollars of unpaid tax and higher welfare costs. The result is clear. The Government is less able to fund needed public services, including education, the NDIS and healthcare. Alternatively, our taxes must be raised further. The larger point is that black economy participation violates basic Australian notions of a fair go.”

The report takes the farce further by addressing a series of common beliefs, including: “The big end of town does not pay tax—so neither should I”. The report solemnly responds: “Using the poor tax behaviour of others to justify our own noncompliance is not an acceptable defence. If it is wrong for multinationals to be evading tax, that same judgement should apply to all of us.” Yet in practice, if it is wrong for multinationals to evade tax, KPMG rewrites the tax laws to make it legal!

“A new social contract is needed”, the report declares, before quoting another of the tax-dodging big four accounting firms, PwC, saying that “Tackling destructive social norms as part of the Black Economy Taskforce’s recommendations must be considered.”

And how do they propose to do that? “[W]e need to understand the behaviours and biases that shape individual decisions: our behavioural cues that may not be rational or even conscious. This is the province of behavioural economics, which in recent decades has gained prominence among academics, marketing experts and, more recently, policy advisers.” The report then formally recommends:

•  Introduction of a behavioural economics framework to guide future black economy policy-making.
•  A national campaign to change social and cultural norms.

“These recommendations should not be seen in isolation from the broader strategies we propose in this Report”, it continues. “Behavioural economics and a focus on social norms can be effective tools if properly applied, but they are not silver bullets. They must work in unison with the other parts of our armoury: moving people into non-cash payments, better reporting of the new economy, traditional incentives and deterrents, reporting of illegal behaviour or ‘dob-ins’, better data sharing across governments, stronger multi-agency action and improving the integrity of our identification systems.”

So there you have it. The firms that are the biggest facilitators of the global black economy are demanding an allencompassing financial dystopia straight out of George Orwell’s 1984, to ensure you don’t destroy the very fabric of society by paying your hairdresser in cash. Of course this is all a ruse, a pretext for the roll-out of fascist measures that strip citizens of their privacy and civil liberties in order to prop up a corrupt and bankrupt financial system.

Australian Alert Service 31 July 2019