Events

The Tax Group, Melbourne Law School, is proud to host its 16th Annual Tax Lecture delivered by Mr Mark Leibler AC (Senior Partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler).

The rule of law is a fundamental pillar of civil society. Wars have been fought, regimes toppled and monarchs put to death by citizens defending or rebelling against the rule of law and, in particular, the power to tax.

Without the rule of law, taxation amounts to little more than state-sanctioned theft on a grand scale.

In this year’s Annual Tax Lecture, tax lawyer Mr Mark Leibler AC will consider the extent to which the ever-more excruciating complexity and uncertainty of Australian tax law, along with the evolving sophistication of taxpayer affairs, requires the Commissioner of Taxation to interpret and apply the law without authoritative guidance.

Mr Leibler will explore what this means for taxpayers, who rely on the Commissioner acting fairly, and should be protected for operating within the framework of the Commissioner’s past guidance or practice.

He will explain that, by drawing on overseas models and building on existing legislation, the potential for legal but unjust application of taxation law could and should be alleviated.

The war in Ukraine invites us to consider the prospects for conflict in Australia’s region. International relations experts, Tim Lynch and Michael Wesley, will debate what war might look like, how far a Beijing-Moscow axis is forming, the capacity of democracies to resist aggression, and whether our regional order is being rewritten. The debate launches a special edition of the Melbourne Asia Review dedicated to change and continuity in the Indo-Pacific.