For a lot of Australians, life has become much more expensive. Prices for groceries, rent, insurance, gas bills are up and the cost of petrol is through the roof, and wages aren't keeping up with rising prices. While many Australians are finding it harder to make ends meet, there has been an explosion in the wealth of the super-rich. Australia taxes wealth very lightly, it's time that changed.

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"Billionaires have the lowest effective tax rate of all social groups everywhere", according to French economist Gabriel Zucman.

"There is a legitimate debate to have about the proper degree of tax progressivity ... But nobody should accept a situation where the super-rich can pay less than the middle class. It's a basic violation of the fundamental principle of equality before the law, which stands at the heart of our social contract."

Taxing wealth fairly is not just important for the economy, it's important for our democracy. As the federal budget approaches, we're about to hear a lot about what Australia 'can't afford'. We can't afford for so many people to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme, for example. We 'can't afford' to increase the unemployment benefit above the poverty line. But somehow we can afford $368 billion for nuclear submarines we may never receive, and we can afford to give away half of our liquid natural gas royalty-free.

There is bipartisan support for increasing spending in areas such as defence, healthcare, and housing. At the same time, both politicians and pundits make frequent calls to reduce the budget deficit. One way to achieve this would be to increase revenue from taxation. Yet come budget time, we hear very little about how we could raise more revenue to fund the public services and infrastructure we all rely on. Australia is of the lowest taxing countries in the developed world. The idea of a 25 per cent tax on gas exports has gained momentum and public support, but Australia also needs to be looking at........

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