Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his January 2007 statement that the mining boom had ‘piled in billions of dollars to this country’; to his March 2007 statement that the mining boom ‘is pumping up the national economy’; to his April 2007 statement that our current economic circumstances ‘are propped up by the mining boom’; and to his May 2008 statement to the Minerals Council that the boom ‘has contributed massively to national income and to the Australian economy at large’. Why then did the Treasurer say yesterday that the Australian people have actually been short-changed by the mining sector? And if the mining boom has been so good for the country, why is the Prime Minister now determined to kill it?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition can never resist a triumph of rhetoric over logic.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The House will come to order!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When it comes to the contribution of the mining sector to the future of the Australian economy, one fact, and one fact alone, should confront the Leader of the Opposition if he is faintly interested in facts. That fact is as follows. Last year, on the question of jobs, the mining industry in fact cut employment by nearly 16 per cent. That is what happened as the rest of the economy sought to grow employment. That was no-one’s responsibility in particular. It is, however, a fact when it comes to jobs.

Secondly, what the Treasurer has also referred to is the fact that the profitability of some of our largest mining companies has increased exponentially across the decade on the back of rising commodity prices yet the return to tax through the form of royalties has not kept pace. That causes us to conclude that tax reform is necessary to make a difference. Thirdly, on the question of what that tax reform would therefore fund, support and invest in—providing better super to 7½ million Australians, providing tax breaks for 2.4 million Australian small businesses, a two percentage point cut in the corporate rate for Australian corporations—it would include, of course, other investments as well, not least of which would be in infrastructure, concerning the infrastructure needs of the resource states in particular.

Finally, can I say to the Leader of the Opposition, the challenge for this economy and the challenge for the future is to make sure that we have a globally competitive economy across the field. That means for every sector of the economy—our manufacturing industries, our service industries, all of whom have been doing it tough with a high Australian dollar, all of whom can benefit from a reduction in the company rate, all of whom can be benefited also by a range of other measures. But none of this happens for free. You have got to obtain the revenue source to fund it by other means. That is why we are proposing tax reform. That is why this government will get on with the business of tax reform.