Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, and mining families. But if you look at Mr Henry’s performance in estimates, his statement was that it really would not make any difference whether the tax was 50, 70 or 80 per cent—it would still be the same outcome; investment would still go on in this country. When he was asked how it would go at 100 per cent he backed off a tiny bit, but not entirely. He even pointed out that a totally government owned company in Norway was happy to pay out 95 per cent of its earnings to the government—that is, the government paying itself.

What we have to recognise with the impact of this tax is that any deferral in investment is what is important here. If a company has to make the decision about whether or not to go ahead with a mining development in this country, which was profitable when the tax was predictable—as it had been over the usual time frame—as against an investment in another country, which will come in and make more profits in light of the proposed tax here in Australia, then in fact we get a deferred investment and it goes off to another country, and we are the poorer for it.

During the recession our mining and minerals companies underpinned our economy—not in terms of the so-called employment factor but in terms of the actual value of the exports. These are the things that the government wishes to sweep under the carpet, but these are the things that the Australian people, and particularly senior Australians, are a lot smarter about. They will see through the subterfuge of the government and they will be—(Time expired)

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