Was good to see people power prevailed and at least some changes were made to the originally proposed mining tax.
That said, it seems to me the changes needed are not where they yet need to be for anyone other than the major miners. So much for consultation Julia!
Does anyone really think the government has changed its stripes. I'm with Tony Abbott on this one. After they knifed Krudd, they may now have a different salesperson, BUT THEY STILL HAVE THE SAME OLD PRODUCT.
If they're serious about fixing this, they need to GET RID OF THIS TAX...ONCE AND FOR ALL.
Perhaps as a last word...see the story below. At least Gindalbie is underway...if only the Government could get out of our way, it will still get the chance it deserves to really fly ! PS Its also good to see AMEC is supporting the re-introduction of the add campaign - see 2nd story at the foot of this post.
"THE revised mining tax will cause a long-term fall in investment in new iron ore and coal projects, but will not derail business spending.
Access Economics says that although the new tax is much improved from the original resource super-profits tax, it will still make investment in Australia less competitive than in Canada, Indonesia or Brazil.
The economic consultancy's latest review of the economy says investment in resources and construction will lead to growth over the next year, boosting Western Australia and Queensland.
It expects the growth will be strong enough to provoke the Reserve Bank into raising interest rates further, with inflation set to rise above its 3 per cent target band.
However, Access Economics says there are still a number of areas of weakness in the Australian economy.
Consumer demand has not recovered as expected, while investment in new housing construction has also been much weaker than forecast.
While investment in manufacturing and other industries will be weak, major projects, particularly the $43 billion Gorgon gas development, will lift business spending by 23 per cent this year, beating the peak achieved in 2008-9 by 6 per cent.
"In a world of woe, Australia will lead the rich world for adding new capacity," the firm says.
It says the new mining tax will delay investment in new mining projects.
However, it will take time for this to become evident.
"The new tax will be a negative, but needs to be seen against the backdrop of the factors that encourage resource investment in Australia, including stability, managerial and technological skills, proximity to markets and quality of product," the report says.
It noted that as recently as five years ago, mining and manufacturing industries spent about the same amount on new investment; now the mining industry spends three times as much.
Major projects under way include BHP Billiton's $6.7bn iron ore expansion, a $5.2bn Chinese investment in the Sino Iron Project and Gindalbie Gold's $2bn magnetite mine.
Access Economics remains confident China's economy will continue to support the mining industry's growth, even if commodity prices weaken over the remainder of this year.
The firm expects strength from China to outweigh continued weakness in Europe's economy."
AMEC STORY
Major groups back AMEC's anti-mine tax ads UPDATE: Andrew Burrell From: The Australian July 26, 2010 3
MINERS have won the backing of other major industry groups in launching a fresh round of advertisements against Labor's mining tax.
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, representing smaller miners and explorers, said in Perth today it would begin television, radio and newspaper ads within days calling on the government to rescind the tax.
At the request of Julia Gillard, AMEC suspended its advertising campaign against the governments since-axed resource super profits tax. But it claims smaller miners were disadvantaged when the government negotiated a deal to water down the tax with industry giants BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
AMEC chief executive Simon Bennison said two other business groups the Retail Federation and the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- were poised to also run ads against the tax.
The backing of other industries showed the campaign against the minerals resources rent tax was collegiate.
Mr Bennison denied the campaign to be run in the lead-up to the federal election was politically motivated.
We are taking this as a very apolitical approach, he said.
We know the environment were in at the moment in the context of an election. I think thats rather unfortunate because weve held this line right from May 2 when this began.
Mr Bennison said AMEC members were concerned about a number of issues, including the uncertainty and confusion in investment and capital markets, and had been unable to communicate with the government.
He described the tax as an investment disincentive that would significantly reduce Australias prosperity, resulting in jobs being lost.
The tax is unfair, unjust, poorly designed, complex, inefficient and discriminatory, he said.
In the absence of any clear resolution to our members concerns, we have been provided a mandate to re-commence a national multi media advertising campaign.
As every day passes the level of uncertainty and confusion increases, with the result that Australia's economy, communities and families will be affected.
GBG Price at posting:
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