From The Shovel

The Cayman Islands is a bit like Nauru, just with more money and less transparency, the [Australian] Prime Minister explained today.

Answering questions from Labor during today’s Parliamentary sitting, Mr Turnbull said, “Your money gets taken away for a very long time, and some other taxpayer foots the bill. It’s really very similar”.

Mr Turnbull said there were often millions of dollars crammed into a single story building. “But the conditions are great, just like on Nauru”.

He conceded there were some differences between the Caribbean island and its Pacific counterpart. “With Nauru the general public has very little insight into what’s happening. With the Caymans, they have no idea”.

For more on this story go to: http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/10/14/cayman-islands-like-an-offshore-detention-centre-for-your-money-turnbull-says/

Related story:

[Australia’s PM] Malcolm Turnbull defends investments after Labor’s Sam Dastyari accuses him of tax avoidance [in Cayman Islands]

By James Glenday From ABC News

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended his offshore investments after the Opposition claimed he was using a tax haven to avoid playing by the “same rules” as the rest of Australia.

Labor frontbencher Sam Dastyari used parliamentary privilege to question why Mr Turnbull had invested in companies that have offices in the Cayman Islands, a well-known Caribbean tax haven where the corporate tax rate is zero.

“There is one reason people invest in the Cayman Islands – so they don’t have to play by the same rules as the rest of us,” Senator Dastyari said in a short speech to the Senate.

“This isn’t fair and it’s not right.”

Senator Dastyari said the investments were “all legal and disclosed” but asked: “Is any of it appropriate?”

Then he claimed Mr Turnbull’s personal wealth could make it harder to crack down on big companies evading tax.

“Every time the Liberal Party votes against tax transparency, remember there is house in the Cayman Islands — a house where Malcolm’s money resides,” he said.

The attack continued in Question Time and the Prime Minister, who is one of the richest members of Parliament, accused Labor of running a new campaign on the “politics of envy”.

He said to avoid conflicts of interest, almost all of his financial investments are in overseas managed funds, which means he has no say what companies they invest in.

“The consequence of that arrangement is that all of that income that accrues to my share of the investment is brought to account fully — and tax is paid on it — fully in Australia,” Mr Turnbull told Parliament.

“It actually increases the tax that is paid in Australia.”

He said all of his investments were approved under the Ministerial Code of Conduct when he became a minister and he claimed Labor had no understanding of how managed funds worked.

“No Australian tax is avoided,” he said.

“I think if honourable members opposite look at their superannuation funds, they might find that many of them are invested in international managed funds, which are domiciled in the Cayman Islands.”

Mr Turnbull’s investments and those of his wife are listed in the declaration of member’s interests.

The Prime Minister has dismissed similar attacks in the past, though this is the first time Labor has so publicly raised his personal wealth since the Liberal leadership spill.

IMAGE: Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time. Malcolm Turnbull says all income from his investments is taxed in Australia. (ABC News: Nicholas Haggerty)

For more on this story go to: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-14/malcolm-turnbull-defends-investments-amid-tax-avoidance-claims/6853944