the 40% is not an issue that is negotiable

http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2010/05/20/ministers-call-to-miners-for-dialogue/

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20th May 2010

RESOURCE companies should face up to their responsibilities, Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday in Gladstone.

Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson yesterday.
Chrissy Harris

RESOURCE companies should face up to their responsibilities, Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday in Gladstone.

Ive noticed that the companies who have had a lot to say publicly are the very ones who havent invested in the time and energy and opened their books.

Its easy to throw stones from the outside, but its actually more challenging to be part of a process to work out how the system can be refined.

On Tuesday Rio Tinto said the resource tax of 40 per cent would hurt the company and is an extra tax on workers, and last week shelved plans to spend $11billion expanding its massive iron ore operations in Western Australia.

Mr Ferguson said the mining companies know they have had a good decade and the day of reckoning has come.

Can I say to Rio Tinto firstly that you should engage with the government, Mr Ferguson said.

Rio Tinto the door is open. It is a serious process of engagement and they should talk to the treasury consultation committee, explain the potential ramifications and then well take on board the issues they have raised.

A spokesperson for Rio Tinto told The Observer yesterday that Managing Director of Rio Tinto Australia David Peever will be meeting with the treasury consultation committee for discussions in Canberra tomorrow.

Mr Ferguson mentioned refinement, engagement, compromise and consultation with the mining industry over the resource tax, but has ruled out negotiation.

The 40% is not an issue that is negotiable, he said.