" Can someone explain how/why all minerals belong to the Australian people."
A condition to the Act of Federation was that each State retained sovereignty over its minerals. This has never been disputed and cannot be challenged by any Federal government no matter how much they might dream about it. Who actually owns the minerals then? The Crown. It is a feel-good fantasy to suggest that they are owned by the people.
The single weakness in the MRRT that can be challenged (IMO) is that it could be interpreted to be a royalty by stealth and in contravention to the rights of the states and therefore unconstitutional. The MRRT is an attempt to directly tax the revenue from a mine, rather than the income of a company.
Dont forget that the Labor government recently botched the offshore Malaysian processing legislation which was challenged and failed in the High Court. So their track record is not good.
