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‘Economic Vandalism’: Geoff Wilson on Labor’s War on Australian Aspiration

Fund manager Geoff Wilson tells Claire Lehmann that Labor’s new capital gains tax will drive Australian capital out of growth companies and into franked dividends—and push a generation of founders offshore.

Claire Lehmann
· 27 min read
Two people face each other in conversation, with a fading ladder and a faint outline of Australia between them, symbolising ambition, opportunity and economic policy.
Image by Quillette.

My guest today is Geoff Wilson, who founded Wilson Asset Management in 1997 and now runs about six billion Australian dollars for 130,000 investors. He has spent the past decade fighting three separate tax fights with Australia’s Labor government, and he’s in the middle of a fourth. If you’re watching from outside Australia, this will look familiar. The argument here is the one being had everywhere. It’s about whether taxing capital is the way to fix inequality.

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