Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for the question, which really raised the importance of the mining tax. Our endeavour to put in place a profits based system in Australia is exceptionally important to the future of Australia. It is about time the coalition understood that we are very fortunate as a nation. There is a huge pipeline of investment in Australia to the tune of $455 billion in either planned or committed capital investment.

It is also time they understood that our economy is going through a major transition at the moment. Whilst a significant part of our economy is getting major benefits in the process of this investment, there are other parts of our economy that are challenged by the impact of the dollar and, I might say, disappointing commodity prices, such as the aluminium industry. That is the case internationally at this point in time. I also say to the opposition that only Labor have the capacity to manage this transition, just as we, during the period of 1983 to 1996, were the only party capable of opening up Australia to the process of globalisation.

See this speech in context