Surely this tax can't be as bad as people here make it out to...

Surely this tax can't be as bad as people here make it out to be.

Yes, it might hurt investment in the mining sector - but remember it's a small industry to start with, accounting for less than 2% of employment.

Meanwhile all the profits are going overseas - look at the who the operators are in our major mining regions. Mitsubishi, Xstrata (Switzerland), Rio Tinto (British) etc.

I must admit I'm not an expert in economics but it seems reasonable to me, to retain some of the money made in mining in Australia, rather than see those dividend cheques head overseas.