Thread: Mining Super Tax

Good read, thx. Confirms my deepening cynicism and desire to fill parliment house with cement............. while its in session,

Heard reports earlier today that the ad campaign was planned since before the tax was announced. Hard for them to claim that its to counter the mining and coalitions campaign if the reports are true

Well the headlines in the Whyalla news today has two words "Ghost Town".

Simple the local steel works will not be viable with this tax.

Not sure how this will also affect Pt Pirie and the smelter there not to mention the power station at Pt Augusta.

Couldn't resist

Mines are Downsizing

Attachment 138256

Dj has upsized with a new beep beep.

Yes, a great article by Mr. Pascoe! Thanx for the reference.

I actually listened to one of the gov. ads today and was struck by the tenor of it. A list of assertions ith no proof that they were even remotely true.

I still think the idea of a RRT is OK - just not this one.

As Pascoeand others have pointed out, the boat has been missed once again. True tax reform seems to be even further away, and the true interests of the country are left wallowing in the wake of massive egos, big business and inept politicians.

Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

Amen to that.....I know Neil for PM, leader of the WW party.

What a bloody good idea! Woodwould for PM!!

Anyone who can explain Irish politics so well would find this job a picnic.

Targeted taxation a pinko idea? That's really new. Tell that to the tobacco companies. Fiscal policy is a targeting exercise. The real issue, that nobody here has actually addressed yet because nobody, included myself, has had the time and inclination, let alone the expertise, to shift through the spin, is whether the country will be better or worse for it. GST anyone?

The GST isn't discriminatory, the super tax on the miners is.

The last real tax reform in this country was started by Hawke Keating with Fringe Benefits Tax, Capital Gains and playing with the superannuation changes from 1983. It ended with the GST of Howard Costello. It was reform because it greatly broadened the tax base and spread taxation across more areas.

Rudd Swann trumpeted this as the greatest root and branch reform to the tax system since federation, when all they are doing is turning state royalties into this new tax. No broadening, greater complexity, and a real chance of us paying the miners next time resource prices take a nose dive.

The governments marketing is using questionable statistics in some cases and total lies in others, unlike the Hawke years no effort has been made at consensus or consultation. What we have is the destruction of any goodwill with the targeted miners and a loss of faith amongst many including I suspect those who will be charged with implementing it in the unlikely event it gets off the ground.

The real travesty in this is that it is a good idea done very badly. We should get more out of the coal, gas and minerals we export. Instead we get a repeat of the insulation fiasco, great idea, but designed to fail.

This has all the hallmarks of a marketing campaign designed by hollowmen, and no sign that either the Prime Minister or the Treasurer really know what they are doing. No wonder the Greens are doing well in the polls, everyone else is on the nose.

The GST was specifically left out of the tax review anyway.
Hence it is a dead point.

With reference to the current resource super profit tax (RSPT)/RRT this is a heavy but interesting article.

The new Australian resource rent tax | The Australian

After reading several bit and articles I get the impression the Mining industry is not in principal against a RRT but more in the unconsulted manner the current proposal has been delivered and in a way fixed in cement by the govt.

There is within many articles and media reports, hints and comments a preferred model being along the lines of the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). Not necessarily a direct copy but as a model base.


Unfortunately this is going to be a long argument with lots of political heat with little forward progression.

The real big losers is going to the sucker that is trying to live off his/her retirement fund and watch the mineral section of the portfolio go for a bad swim.

Thanks for the link to the Garnaut article.

Makes for interesting reading and I find I now have more questions of the government than ever regarding the implementation of this policy.

I would ask Mr Garnaut to expand on his references to our government being able to implement policy in the public good that are contested by powerful private interests in the midst of dangerous time for our country.

Does this reference relate to giving our government the ability to implement taxation to return to a balanced budget after the questionable expenditure it committed to as a result of the GFC? I beleive that what he is saying.

In any event his call for constructive (or should that be rational and transparent) discussion clearly needs heeding by all parties.

Originally Posted by Waldo

The GST isn't discriminatory, the super tax on the miners is.

The GST is discriminatory, it taxes people who do not have sufficient income to be taxed on personal income. It was well known by everybody, so much so that compensatory measures were taken by the Government to offset this disadvantage.

Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

I would ask Mr Garnaut to expand on his references to our government being able to implement policy in the public good that are contested by powerful private interests in the midst of dangerous time for our country.

Does this reference relate to giving our government the ability to implement taxation to return to a balanced budget after the questionable expenditure it committed to as a result of the GFC? I beleive that what he is saying.

I do not believe his lecture here has anything directly relating to the expenditure the govt made due to the GFC and trying to get a balanced budget sheet ASAP.

He outlined it in a generalised manner near teh beginning as:
"This is a dangerous time for our country in a dangerous world. Europe is floundering, as Governments wake up to the consequences of socialising the losses of private financial institutions in response to the global financial crisis. In the United States, a clever and politically skilled President is battling with domestic problems on a daunting scale. The United States has fewer political and fiscal reserves than at any time since the 1930s, with which to come to the aid of a North Atlantic world in trouble. We will learn over the year ahead whether it has the political and fiscal reserves to help itself."

One of the biggest issues we will face for a period is the lack of creditable politicians on all sides of politics, includes the little parties as well. Unfortunately the old guard and their ability to spin with a level of quality and belief have now vanished. Many of these old guard also had a belief in this nation and country, which the current lot appear to have lost or never had.