Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry. Will the minister outline to the House how much the mining tax has cost to administer since its inception? How will the repeal of the mining tax help industry in my state of Western Australia and elsewhere?

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Swan for his question. He, of all the people in this House, knows how important it is for small business to run at a profit. He was a small business man himself, unlike most of those over there, who have never been in business and never employed anyone, and he certainly understands—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am happy to do a poll on the other side any time you like. I know the member for Hunter was an auto-electrician, but they are pretty short on business people over that side.

I know that the member for Swan understands how small business works and understands that, for the 21,000 small businesses in his electorate, it is important that they are able to continue to service the mining industry. The mining industry in Western Australia is an enormous employer. Nationally, it employs around 270,000 people, and in total around 800,000 people rely on the mining industry in some way for their income. Western Australia is the mining state in Australia. I do not like to acknowledge that, as a Queenslander, but it is the mining state—at the moment; we will catch them again.

But what do those on the other side think of a state that excels in something like the mining industry? They think: 'Let's tax it. Let's just tax it. Let's not care that they underpin the economy and that the mining industry is the backbone of the economy in Western Australia; let's just tax it. Let's introduce it.' I join with the Treasurer: only the member for Lilley could design a tax that costs nearly $40 million—$30 million to implement and then another $10 million a year. Only the member for Lilley could design a tax that does not collect any money. Only the member for Lilley could design a tax that not only disadvantages every business in Western Australia but fails to—

Ms MacTiernan interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Perth will desist. She is warned.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Perth interjects, and we know the member for Perth's view on this tax. She wants to get rid of it. She has not got the courage to say it here, but she says it over there in Western Australia, like the Leader of the Opposition. In Western Australia he wants to get rid of the tax; in the House he opposes it.

We need to make sure that the mining industry in Western Australia pays its fair share of tax. The mining industry pays around $20 billion a year in company tax and since 2006-07 has paid around $117 billion in company tax and royalties. The Labor Party is not happy with that. It would rather design a tax that does not work and further dents the confidence of investors in that industry. If those on that side are serious about jobs, particularly jobs in Western Australia, they should join us in getting rid of the mining tax.