Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

You can wait with bated breath; perhaps your breath is not as good as that of some, but there you go. With respect to the flow-through share scheme, I am reminded that we did have a flow-through share scheme from 1958 to 1973 and from 1978 to 1985. So it has been part of the financial side of the Australian exploration industry. I know that it was considered for this financial year. However, it was considered that more work needed to be done. It does not mean that it is totally off the platform, but it is not something that we included this year. I do not want to be dismissive of the member opposite. It has been reviewed and looked at as part of a proposal. But when you come to dividing up a budget and looking at what tax breaks you can give, the pie is only so big and you must work within the pie that you have available.

It is unfortunate that it was not included, but our government saw the priority as being to introduce tax relief to businesses and tax cuts to families so that people could have more income in their pockets. However, the fight is not over. We understand that the Minerals Council of Australia, mining and exploration companies, the Australian Gold Council and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association are pushing this proposal. We are receptive to their inquiries. It will all be looked at in the context of the budget planning processes for next year.

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