Kgtom...great post and I reckon you are on the money with the "end intention".
In fact, it's negotiation time isn't it and one of the cardinal rules of negotiation is to ask for more than you want or expect...so the Kruddster is asking!
And have a look at his past history...he has a habit of "buying out" any opposition....see what the coal miners achieved with the ETS debacle.
I reckon you're right, it will end up at 20% and the deducting amount for a "fair and reasonable" profit margin will be lifted to commercial bond rate plus a healthy margin (surely the Mining Council will be going in hard here as risk and reward are always related and mining is a risky business).
Plus, to save Rudd some face, the 40% will be left in place to be phased in in say 10 years time and based upon events that are highly improbable....like metal prices reaching a margin of 100% over present spot.
But this will keep the Labor party faithful happy that they are still "sticking it" to the capitalists.
In the meantime, chaos reigns supreme and Canada will be laughing all the way to the bank, for they will remember when Trudeau pulled a very similar stunt in the eigthies involving the oil and gas in Alberta. It was a disaster and cost them dearly.
Why don't the pollies look to the lessons that history proves time and time again.
oh yeah...there's another reason why 20% might be the final figure...both Canada and USA (as I vaguely recollect) have resource taxes at this level.
HGO Price at posting:
30.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
