The multinational involved in the proposed privatisation of Port of Auckland is the subject of a new Australian report “Does DP World dodge taxes in Australia?”
The report is published by The Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR).
Key findings show DP World in Australia paid zero income tax in Australia over the last eight years, despite revenues of over $4.5 billion in that period.
DP World appears to have used complex methods to artificially reduce taxable income and shift income offshore, according to the report.
Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says Aucklanders should be watching closely what is happening with DP World across the Tasman.
Protected industrial action has recently taken place in Australian ports, with the Australian Council of Trade Unions last month calling on DP World to ‘return to good faith bargaining and abandon their attacks on hard working maritime workers in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.’
“Selling a strategic asset and natural monopoly like Port of Auckland to a global operator like DP World would be leaving a vampire in charge of the blood bank.”
Mr Harrison says the disturbing record of DP World in Australia can be compared with the positive situation in Port of Auckland.
He says with new management working with the Union at the Port of Auckland, there have been rapidly improving returns for the people of Auckland.
“Why would we want to mess with this successful Port?”
The Australian tax report on DP World follows on from a report released in September 2023 by the Maritime Union of New Zealand that warned of major price hikes on freight going through a privatised Port of Auckland.
A poll released by the Maritime Union on 11 October showed an overwhelmingly majority of Aucklanders wanted the Port of Auckland kept in public ownership.
