Greens will vet mining tax deal in Senate: Bob Brown Imre Salusinszky From: The Australian July 01, 2010 1:48PM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email Share GREENS leader Bob Brown warned today that any deal on the resources super-profits tax struck behind closed doors could be amended in the Senate.
Senator Brown predicted a ?cave-in? by the Gillard Government to the mining industry as he responded in Sydney to reports Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh has demanded an iron-clad guarantee from Julia Gillard that any deal struck in the current negotiations will remain intact after the federal election.
?There's a small thing called democracy here, and a big thing called the Australian parliament,? Senator Brown said.
?Unless Labor gets control of both houses, and that's not going to happen, the agreement will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.?
He said the ability of the Greens to improve such a package had been ?established? in negotiations over the Government's economic stimulus package last year.
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?We saved the country from recession in the process,? he said.
Senator Brown, who wants part of the estimated $12 billion windfall from the tax paid into an infrastructure fund, said the focus of the Greens ?is to see the Australian public gets a dividend out of this, not just the mining barons?.
?We've got an eye on the key factor, which is the $12 billion in the forward estimates that's going to come from this tax,? he said.
?We don't want to see that $12 billion reduced. Each billion that goes back to the mining industry, and will in substantial part flow overseas, is a billion that has to be made up for in some other way, against the public interest.?
Senator Brown slammed the secrecy with which negotiations over the RSPT - which are seen as the final obstacle between Ms Gillard and an election announcement - are being conducted.
?Which other sector of the Australian community expects to have such a monumentally important tax item negotiated so rigidly behind closed doors?? he said.
Senator Brown said a cave-in was certain after the mining industry ?was able to claim ... the scalp of prime minister Rudd.?
He said the future shape of the tax, and the Coalition's stated intention to reject it, made it crucial for the Greens to hold the balance of power in the senate after the election.
?If we get a Gillard government and an Abbott-controlled senate, we get gridlock,? he said.
?But the Coalition's `no' under any circumstances will melt if the mining industry is happy with the outcome. That gives the mining industry, through the Coalition, the balance of power in the senate.?
So how can it be guaranteed? Unfortunately there is a chance that the Greens will hold the balance of power if the election is closely won by Labour with Green preferences.
