Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Tax Laws Amendment (Disclosure of MRRT Information) Bill 2013 and, for the first time in this place, I agree with the some of the words of the current Treasurer. I know it is somewhat shocking. But when he says:

… ultimately when it comes to our mining tax reforms, history will judge our actions—

I am 100 per cent in agreement with that statement. And history, dear Treasurer, can be a very harsh critic. History will look back at the mining tax, the carbon tax, the pink batts, the waste in the school halls program, the green loans, the cash for clunkers, the unilateral banning of the live cattle trade, the set-top boxes, the computers in schools, the breakdown in border protection and the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation—and it will judge. However, I do not share the Treasurer's optimism that it will be judged well.

The MRRT is yet another example of the shambolic nature of how this government governs. It is not the first version of the mining tax. The previous tax, the resource super profits tax, was introduced without stakeholder consultation or a genuine analysis of industry concerns, which is of course very common for legislation introduced by this government.

As a result of the RSPT Australia made it on to the front page of international newspapers, including TheWall Street Journal, for all the wrong reasons. For the first time 'Australia' and 'sovereign risk' were linked in the one sentence.

The very fact that the legislation was scrapped and then rewritten is an admission of how flawed the original tax was. But has the second, third, fourth and fifth attempt at the MRRT been any better? In short, no. Why? When it was first negotiated, it was negotiated with only three companies, without proper transparency and proper scrutiny. We were told that it was an important part of tax reform to have the MRRT and that the tax would in fact fund small business tax cuts and an increase in superannuation from nine to 12 per cent. The government did not keep its company tax cut promise and, according to its own timetable, it certainly cannot afford the increase in superannuation.

So let us understand some of the key facts. In 2012-13 the MRRT was to bring in around $4 billion of revenue. This was written down in last year's budget to around $3 billion and then again, in MYEFO, the government cut another $1 billion off it to take it down to $2 billion. Of course, we learn that it has, instead, raised only $200 million, a somewhat small differential of around $3.8 billion. But when you examine the picture more closely you will see it is even worse. The government has overestimated exactly how much revenue it is bringing in, because 30 per cent of the revenue from the MRRT is forgone in company tax payments. When you add in the cost of administering the tax it is around $50 million, and the mining company spends around $20 million to comply. So what are you left with? Around 25c for each dollar of revenue.

The government has blamed commodity prices and the high Australia dollar, yet all of this remains virtually unchanged. That is what makes the forecast in the current budget by the Treasurer so inexplicable. He says that this current tax is going to raise about $5.5 billion over the period 2012-13 to 2016-17, down from—let me remind the House—an original forecast of $26.5 billion.

Yet we are also to understand that commodity prices are going down and that the Australian dollar will remain high by historical standards. It beats me how it is that you can increase the revenue on assumptions that are worse. But I suspect that is one of the key reasons why the government refuse to release their modelling. Only this current government can actually turn a tax into a black hole, with expenditure outweighing the revenue coming through the door.

This motion before the House is critical because it will not allow an incompetent Treasurer to hide behind a ridiculous notion that the Australian people should not be told how much has been raised by the mining tax under this figment, this fig leaf, of protecting the privacy of individual taxpayers.

The legislation will allow the ATO to provide aggregate figures so we know exactly how much revenue is coming through the door, rather than relying on the Treasurer's Delphic-like predictions of revenue. We will be able to measure expenditure against revenue. That is why this motion is so incredibly critical and why this House should in fact support the motion.

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