Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition's version of leadership might be being dictated to by editorial writers in the United States of America, but my version of leadership is coming up with a uniquely Australian plan for our nation's future. As Australians standing in this parliament I actually think it is our duty as Australians to make sure we are making decisions that are in the best interests of our nation, and as Prime Minister I will always do that.

It is in the best interests of our nation that at this time of change in our economy, when we see our resources sector going strongly, which is of course a down payment on the economic opportunities of this Asian century of change, that we make sure we have in place the right tax policy so that we can share the benefits of that period of resources growth. I believe that is the right policy, and the government has delivered it. It is a profits based policy. That is why it is an efficient tax. It is obviously true, manifestly true, that, as commodity prices rise and fall, the degree of taxation moves with it. That is why it is a profits based tax—because that is the efficient way of taxing.

To the Leader of the Opposition: it is really an interesting kind of schism in the characterisation of the opposition on the minerals resource rent tax. They used to tell us that it was so big, so onerous and so crushing that it would destroy the resources industry. Now they tell us that apparently it is not big enough and it is not raising enough money.

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