Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the announcement this morning by mining company Xstrata that it has suspended $586 million of current investment in two major mining projects in Queensland as a result of his great big new tax, putting at risk total capital investment of over $6.4 billion and 3,250 jobs in regional Queensland. Given the statement of Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, who said, ‘This is no longer of war of words; this is causing real pain to Queensland families,’ and given Xstrata’s statement that neither of these two projects would be viable if the new tax were imposed, will the Prime Minister now listen to these warnings and dump this tax before any further damage is inflicted on the Australian economy? Why did the Prime Minister gutless out of fully debating this issue, first in response to me and second in response to the member for Kennedy?

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