Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I add my best wishes to Misha Schubert, and I will have more to say to her privately about that later today. I do not think, for the people of South Australia and the families of South Australia, any issue could be more important than the destiny of our economy and where we are going as a nation. Today the Treasurer will attempt to trivialise the announcement yesterday by BHP in relation to Olympic Dam and its failure to commit to the $20 billion expansion of Port Hedland. The Treasurer has already trivialised the issue by saying that investment has surged with the carbon tax and the mining tax. That begs the question: why does the government not just double the tax, if it is so good for the economy?

There are $40 billion worth of new taxes. It is not a flippant remark from the chairman of BHP or the chief executive of BHP, or a flippant remark from the head of BC Iron or Glencore or anyone else, when they suggest that Australia is now emerging as a nation of considerable risk for international investors and specifically investors that create the jobs that are going to drive the economy over the next few years.

And, of course, the mining tax and the carbon tax are having an impact on investment confidence. The irony was dripping as they uttered the words that we have record investment, yet $50 billion was cancelled yesterday and somehow the government is continuing to run out the same old lines, like an old broken record, that they believe the mining boom is going to continue. Well, it was the Minister for Resources and Energy who belled the cat today when he said the resources boom is over. He is dead right. The resources boom is over. He would know. He is the minster responsible for the industry that is generating the income. He was contradicted within minutes by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Penny Wong, who said, 'No, no, no, the mining boom is not over.' So the government could not even get their narrative right after the comments from the member for Batman, who is known for being a straight talker. This is very important.

No-one believes what the Prime Minister utters today and no-one believes what the Treasurer utters today, because they deliberately misled the Australian people before the last election about the carbon tax. But people do still have trust in the Minister for Resources and Energy, the member for Batman. So when he says the resources boom is over he is dead right. Why would he say that? We recognise that the higher Australian dollar is having an impact and that commodity prices have been coming off. We have been warning about that. In fact, in a National Press Club speech I warned about a deterioration in the terms of trade. In fact, in the last two National Press Club speeches, after the last two budgets, I warned the Australian people that this budget was a house of cards built on record terms of trade, and that should that house of cards start to come down so too will the government's budget.

But let it be known that it is part of the deliberate strategy of this government to slow down the mining boom. That was the whole intent of the mining tax, in its original form. It was intended to slow down the mining boom. But we know that when it comes to modern times the people who are running the parliamentary Labor Party, the Australian Workers Union, have a similar view. Only a few weeks ago, on 12 April 2012, Phillip Coorey reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that:

The Australian Workers Union wants the government to expand its minerals resources rent tax to slow the mining boom …

He further said:

The proposal to boost the mining tax by reverting to the original resources super profits tax 'would slow down the mining boom, take pressure off the terms of trade and boost government revenue which could be placed in a sovereign wealth fund'.

Phillip Coorey was quoting from a document the AWU prepared.

It is interesting. The minister who represents the AWU in here is the Treasurer, Wayne Swan. He is a member of the Australian Workers Union. The Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten, is a member of the Australian Workers Union. Their own union, the AWU, which they are so determined to protect in this place in relation to matters that are currently being discussed about the credibility of the Prime Minister, said: 'Let's have a higher tax to slow down the mining boom.' Well, they are getting their wish—a $50 billion mining investment, the heartbeat of the future of South Australia, was closed down yesterday and this government was so indifferent about it that there was not a single statement from the government in question time today. There was not a word of disappointment. They are totally indifferent to the lost jobs.

Instead, they are living in this false world that suggests everything will be fine. But it is not fine. The reason they are so determined to continue to talk up the mining boom is that it underpins their budget. They know, we know and the Australian people know that when the mining boom is over so too is this government's largesse—politically motivated largesse with which they are trying to get an incompetent Prime Minister and an incompetent government re-elected. They are doing it from house to house. They are trying to create envy by attacking the people who generate the money. In fact, the Premier of South Australia yesterday went so far as to blame BHP for not proceeding with Olympic Dam. He said it was all their fault. What a stupid comment.

Mr Champion interjecting—

Listen, old sunshine, why didn't you ask a question today about Olympic Dam? You are from South Australia. You do not care. Instead you just do the bidding of your mates in the union. This is a door-to-door proposition from the Labor Party—create envy, create jealousy, attack the miners, attack the people who are out there and say that we are going to redistribute it like a modern-day Lenin.

I came across a recent letter the Treasurer sent to his own constituents. He said:

I was talking to a local resident the other day who asked, 'Wayne, at a time when we are in the middle of a massive mining boom, why aren't people like me sharing more in its benefits?' It is a question being asked by many people in our area. That is why federal Labor and I have put in place laws to use some of the huge profits in mining to help the small businesses and workers.

The reality, as this minister said, is that the mining tax, together with the mining boom, is over. Even the architect of the original mining tax, Dr Ken Henry, said:

It is probably true that the original proposal was too complex …

He added that the new one

… is actually more complicated than what was originally proposed.

…   …   …

And the obvious question it raises is one that I dare not ask, really, which is whether it's worth bothering at all.

He is referring to the mining tax. He is the person who argued for the original mining tax. He says why bother.

Do you know who else is asking why bother? I will tell you: it is the former chairman of BHP, Don Argus. On 11 July this year he said:

We've entered an era without political leadership and the courage to address difficult issues.

Graham Bradley, the former Chair of the Business Council of Australia and current Chairman of Anglo American Australia, said:

… the substantial pipeline of new projects that has been talked about is by no means assured. I've been myself talking to international investors in recent days who have expressed the view that they are seriously underweight in Australia as a result of what they term sovereign risk, which includes the unpredictability of regulation, taxes on key industries and concerns about industrial co-operation.

So, those are the views of the chairman of Anglo American and the former chairman of BHP. Ivan Glasenberg, the chief executive of Glencore International said:

So Australia does have its risk, yes. We saw the carbon tax, we saw the mineral resource tax—

and then the chief executive of Glencore said:

At least in the Congo they need you. They want you there. And if they start changing the rules on you, you may not continue investing.

Jacques Nesser, the Chairman of BHP-Billiton, just a few weeks ago said:

… uncertainty about Australia's tax system is generating negative investor reaction. People don't know where it's going.

And David Peever, from Rio Tinto—

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