Dick Smith launches $1 million TV ad campaign to slash immigration, increase taxes for super rich
MILLIONAIRE businessman Dick Smith is launching a $1 million television ad campaign tomorrow to pressure politicians to cut immigration and increase taxes on the super-wealthy.
And he will be handing out toy pitchforks to warn of the violent “revolution” to come if nothing is done.
“I am doing this for my grandchildren because you cannot have endless growth and endless greed,” he said. Mr Smith has hired actor John Stanton from the 1980s Grim Reaper AIDS campaign to voice the disturbing ad, which warns of violence on the streets if population growth goes on unchecked.
“It is so disturbing people in my office said they did not want their children to see it, but it is what we see on the news every night,” he said.
He has put the major political parties on notice. “Next election I will put $2 million into marginal seats supporting the party that has a population plan,” Mr Smith said.
“This has nothing to do with party politics. As a nation we need a population plan like every Australian family already has, it’s just common sense.”
Mr Smith’s campaign is also calling for a greater tax on the super-rich. “Australia’s wealthiest 1 per cent own more than the bottom 70 per cent, that’s 17 million Aussies. I am a member of that 1 per cent club and we can certainly afford to pay more tax,” he said.
But instead of increasing tax on billionaires, Mr Smith said they were getting another tax cut.
He called for taxes for the very rich to be bumped up to the 45 cents in the dollar levels of the 1970s, which was the going rate when he made his fortune.
The advertising campaign will be launched by Mr Smith and radio host Alan Jones at The Hilton Hotel tomorrow morning before it is aired on the networks.
