Looks like they found some extra money to fund a "miners are evil" campaign and do it under the thin guise of "public information". The government is breaching its own guidelines here ... but when you are devoid of morality such actions come as easily as a bodily function.
Australia to Run Ad Campaign Explaining Resource Tax
May 28, 2010, 4:07 AM EDT
Bloomberg
By Marion Rae
May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudds government said it will run an advertising campaign to counter mining industry "misinformation" about the proposed 40 percent super profits tax on resource companies.
The promotion was granted under emergency powers after Treasurer Wayne Swan advised "there is an active campaign of misinformation about the proposed changes," Cabinet Secretary Senator Joe Ludwig said in a statement today.
The decision waives the governments own rules that spending on taxpayer-funded advertising should be approved by its own auditors. In the May 11 budget, the government set aside A$38.5 million ($32.8 million) to promote an overhaul of the nations tax system, a plan that includes the resources levy.
Mining companies have been the fiercest opponents to the tax announced on May 2 and scheduled to take effect from 2012, taking full-page advertisements out in Australian newspapers to lobby for changes. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, the worlds biggest and third-largest resources companies, are among miners warning that the levy will jeopardize investment and limit jobs growth.
The Minerals Council of Australia ran an advertisement on YouTube and began a radio campaign on May 24 against the tax, saying Australian miners will pay a levy of 58 percent, by far the worlds highest tax on mining. It compares with 23 percent paid in Canada, 30 percent in Russia and 33 percent in South Africa, the council said in the advertisement.
"Those companies are not telling the truth in their advertising," Swan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio at the time. "Their claims are fundamentally dishonest."
Super Profit
Rudds government and resources companies are also clashing over the definition of a "super" profit, which the proposed tax sets at returns above the long-term Australian government bond rate of about 6 percent. The nations petroleum resource rent tax, also levied on profits at a rate of 40 percent and in place since July 1987, kicks in when returns exceed 11 percent.
"We have seen an absolutely outrageous example today of a government that is completely without any moral compass, without any real ethical dimension," Tony Abbott, leader of the opposition Liberal-National coalition, told reporters in Sydney as the advertising campaign was announced.
Rudds Labor party and Abbotts coalition are tied in the polls, according to a Newspoll survey of 1,159 people taken between May 14 and 16 and published in the Australian newspaper on May 17. Voter dissatisfaction with Rudd rose to 51 percent, from 40 percent in February, in the lead up to a national ballot that must be called by April. Rudd would lose an election called now, according to a Herald/Nielsen poll published on May 10.
Swan has said he isnt ruling anything in or out as talks continue with mining companies operating in Australia, a consultation process that will take about 18 months, according to the treasurers office. BHP and Rio have said they are reviewing investment decisions.
