Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, normal! I say to every business in Australia: beware. If you earn more than six per cent, watch out in the future. This government cannot be trusted to stop at the mining industry to support their superspending program. Big and small businesses in WA have condemned the tax. Large mining companies have also expressed major concerns. It seems the only people not concerned are the government. In this House today the PM refused to rule out further industries being taxed by this government that considers profit above six per cent as super.

As a representative for the people of Swan I am urging the government not to ignore the thousands of people, many within my electorate, asking the government not to bring in this supertax. They are worried about their jobs. This will affect the residents of Swan regardless of whether they are connected to the resource industry. There will be job losses in Swan—and, I am sure, also in Brand—which the Rudd Labor government will be held responsible for. Seniors in particular over the last week have contacted my office about the damage of the Rudd Labor government announcement on their superannuation and about the pain they will feel. The residents of Swan expect real action from their government, real action on border protection, real action on reducing the debt and real action on insulation compensation for homes affected by airport noise—not just a new tax to cover up their superspending program. This is not a tax on superprofits; this is a supertax.

According to the statistics in the WA government Department of Mines and Petroleum website, close to 70,000 people are employed in the local mining sector, and the flow-on effect of many people’s future being in doubt will reverberate not only through the WA economy but through the national economy. Before the 2007 election Kevin Rudd promised WA a fairer share of the take and a $100 million infrastructure fund. To all WA people: we have not got them, and we now only get 68c in the dollar for every dollar we contribute in the GST system from our great state. The member for Batman also talked about a fairer system. This is why they want to introduce this tax: a fairer system. Where is the fairness in Western Australia only getting 68c in the GST system?

This is just a grab by the government to nationalise and to centralise funding out of the mining sector. The PM said WA would get more through this new infrastructure fund from this supertax. Well, Mr Rudd, we in WA do not believe you. You cannot be trusted. I have read through the recently completed Radar Group study commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia, Institutional investor perception study: impact of the proposed resource super profits tax. All the institutional investors surveyed believe the government’s adoption of this tax was ill-conceived and will have a highly detrimental effect on the Australian economy. We are talking about an industry that over the last 10 years has paid $80 billion in royalties and company tax. The Prime Minister talks about $9 billion a year. Multiply that by 10 and that is $90 billion a year he wants to take out of an industry that has only paid $80 billion over the last decade. This is just a government that has lost control of everything it is involved with.

Even in Redcliffe there is something that you would know about. Here is a picture of a sign there that says: ‘Miners in. Rudd out.’ They are getting it there. They are getting it all about this Prime Minister. They know what it is all about. It is all about him.

See this speech in context