Hi GDelaney,I'm no expert but for me this tax is easier to...

Hi GDelaney,

I'm no expert but for me this tax is easier to understand when you consider this.

The fed was in the original RSPT, and now with the MRRT: was/is trying to tax the resource at the nearest point of extraction from the ground. Basically pre opex. In the original RSPT, any associated costs post extraction were irrelevant regarding the RSPT.

BHP, RIO and Xstrata hood winked the Gillard delegation prior to the last election. They asked for write-offs that suited THEIR business models. The problem with that is different miners have different costs associated post extraction. The Gillard delegation weren't interested at that time in differentiating between these costs. They had an election looming. And they also had angry miners that were threatening to re-launch attack ads against the RSPT. And those attack ads were biting the fed badly. They caved in basically to the big 3's demands. Problem is, the tax changes suited the big 3 ONLY.

Bye