Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

A profits based tax is in our national interest. The future of the mining industry is bright. In recent days, we have seen the forecasts from ABARE in their quarterly outlook for commodity exports released yesterday. Minerals and energy export earnings are forecast to increase by 29 per cent, or almost $38 billion, in 2010-11 and hit $170 billion. You would not get a sense of that if you were listening to the scare campaign that is being waged by a few large mining companies. The fact is, there are very bright prospects for our mining industry. That is why we have put forward a very sensible proposition for a profits based tax.

In the last day, the Western Australian Premier has jacked up royalties substantially—to the tune of $300 million. Did we hear anything about that from those opposite? No, we did not. Did we hear anything about retrospectivity? No, we did not. Did we hear anything about it suppressing investment? No, we did not. And that is because our mining industry is very profitable. It is very profitable on an elevated terms of trade that is going to stay that way for some time to come. The Australian people are entitled to get a fair share of those elevated terms of trade. Those opposite just want the profit to walk out the door and to be lost to the Australian people forever. What we want to do with the proceeds of a profits based tax is to invest those in strengthening and broadening our economy, as the Prime Minister was saying before.

Nevertheless, we continue to get these scare campaigns. I see that the Queensland Resources Council is out today predicting doom and gloom. But at the same time the Queensland government is saying that there are strong mining exploration applications and that they have been unaffected by the RSPT. We saw the US coal group Peabody last week talk about a very substantial expansion in Australia. And of course we have seen the Association of Superannuation Trustees blow the whistle on this scare campaign, calling it scaremongering and irresponsible. And irresponsible it is. What gives the lie to that irresponsibility are these forecasts from ABARE. What they demonstrate is the absolute irresponsibility of those opposite, who say that the mining companies are paying too much tax. So we have this ridiculous position where those opposite are saying that the miners pay too much tax while some miners are saying that they could pay a bit more. But of course there are some companies that those opposite are in league with that will never agree to pay more because they are not interested in pursuing the national interest.

The Australian people are entitled to get a fair share of the boom in commodity prices that is going to last for some time. That does bring great opportunities to our country but it also brings challenges. So on our part we are having a sensible discussion and negotiation with the mining industry, because we are determined to get a balanced outcome for a 40 per cent profits based tax—a 40 per cent profits based tax that can deliver the revenue so we can give a business tax cut to all the companies in Australia, so we can do something about investing in infrastructure and so we can do something about boosting our national savings, which is very important for our long-term prosperity. The final word today about a profits based tax comes from the deputy head of the IMF, who said in Sydney today that he ‘supported it in principle’.

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