Greens will try and toughen mining tax


The Australian Greens say they will try to make the federal government's proposed mining tax tougher.

Greens leader Bob Brown wants Labor's revised 30 per cent mineral resource rent tax (MRRT) raised back to its original 40 per cent rate.

"But it simply won't happen because (Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott wants there to be no taxes whatsoever," he told Network Ten on Sunday.

Senator Brown said that while his party ultimately would pass the government's MRRT as it stood, he would still try to amend it.

"We'll talk with the government to see if there's improvements to be gotten out of that," he told Network Ten.

"Talks can always lead to improvements, but I would expect that basic rate is the one that would apply."

Senator Brown said the Greens couldn't insist on increasing the tax rate because Labor and the coalition would simply vote down the proposal in parliament.

"At least (the MRRT) does raise a sensible tax, a wealth tax effectively, for this nation's future," he said.

Thank you Australian Greens.  The minerals in the ground belong to ALL Australians.  The Australian Greens, the fair and sensible people.

wrote on Sep 19^th, 2010 at 1:44pm:

Thank you Australian Greens.  The minerals in the ground belong to ALL Australians.  The Australian Greens, the fair and sensible people.

Get yourself a pick and shovel and go make your fortune dipstick  ;D

Boring.

Greens grandstanding because they know they dont stand a chance in making an increase.

Its just crap because they are trying the "we tried" line, and have already conceeded defeat.

Verge wrote on Sep 19^th, 2010 at 5:07pm:

Boring. Greens grandstanding because they know they dont stand a chance in making an increase. Its just crap because they are trying the "we tried" line, and have already conceeded defeat.

it wouldnt be a Greens policy if it wasnt talking about a WEALTH tax! this is just the first in their long list of taxes to attack the wealthy - defined as anyone who has anything much at all.

I totally disagree with Bob Brown wanting to increase the resource rent from 30% of profit to 40% of profit.

Miners should not be paying any extra tax on the profits that they make beyond the usual corporate tax rates.

The minerals that they are mining belong to all australians and they should be paying a royalty on extraction, not a tax upon profits made.  If they can't make a profit after paying Australians for the privilege of digging up our finite mineral reserves, then they ought to think twice about digging it up. If you can't make a profit digging it up then we probably don't really need to extract it. Leave it in the ground for future generations.

moof wrote on Sep 19^th, 2010 at 10:06pm:

I totally disagree with Bob Brown wanting to increase the resource rent from 30% of profit to 40% of profit. Miners should not be paying any extra tax on the profits that they make beyond the usual corporate tax rates. The minerals that they are mining belong to all australians and they should be paying a royalty on extraction, not a tax upon profits made.  If they can't make a profit after paying Australians for the privilege of digging up our finite mineral reserves, then they ought to think twice about digging it up. If you can't make a profit digging it up then we probably don't really need to extract it. Leave it in the ground for future generations.

You do realise that the 30% profits tax is an additional tax on top of the 30% company tax.

We all know what it is. The big question is to what degree a profits based tax will replace state based royalties. See  http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/profitsbased-tax-more-equitable-palmer-20100914-159id.html
Palmer says a profits based tax is more equitable than a royalties based scheme. I favour increasing the royalties so that unprofitable mines are forced to become profitable or close. A profits based tax encourages higher extraction, not wiser extraction.

moof wrote on Sep 19^th, 2010 at 11:50pm:

We all know what it is. The big question is to what degree a profits based tax will replace state based royalties. See  http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/profitsbased-tax-more-equitable-palmer-20100914-159id.html Palmer says a profits based tax is more equitable than a royalties based scheme. I favour increasing the royalties so that unprofitable mines are forced to become profitable or close. A profits based tax encourages higher extraction, not wiser extraction. probably one of the stupidest ideas on the mining tax yet!