Jonnoh, Billiton merged with BHP as equals [50%:50%] and they didn't have any Aussie mines. Enough of your 'foreign owned aussie miners not paying tax' bulldust. Jonnoh first off do about 3 weeks fulltime study on these issues then report back here on: 1/ BHP-Billiton, Rio [was Rio-Tinto-ConZinc], Xstrata, Newcrest, Woodside, Santos etc and include where all their producing mining projects are,
2/ and where they pay taxes and how much they pay, including royalties MRRT and PRRT and Carbon Tax [you might be surprised there],
3/ and include all the towns and town roads and infrastructure they build and ports and rails which they are later forced by States to share having been paid upfront for by shareholders. [Port Hedland and South Hedland are two big towns that spring to mind as examples.]
4/ and grants and sponsorships for local clubs, Community Organisations etc [and I know you will be stunned there!]
5/ and to keep yourself happy do figure out what % of each of these big miners' shares are foreign owned.
Get back to me when you have all that data and no doubt along the way you'll add a few things I've missed like all the hundreds of thousands of jobs in hundreds of state and federal gov't dep'ts across Oz that are created, fuelled, fed and maintained by these miners needed permits, a myriad of approvals, EPA conditions, indigenous agreements, etc etc.
Yeah right Jonnoh being able to claim costs incurred in earning that income is such a travesty NOT!!! No doubt when you fill out your tax form you ignore work expenses and any other valid expenses to be offset against your wages, NOT!
