Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The senator seems to ignore the impact of international events on the stock markets, just like the Liberal Party seemed to want to deny the global financial crisis. I am confident that the mining industry will continue to grow and prosper under this tax regime. Your Premier of Western Australia, Mr Barnett, is about to increase his royalties that he taxes those same mining companies on because he thinks they can pay more tax. Mr Barnett agrees with us; he thinks they can pay more tax. Even their own industry admit in some of their submissions and their private comments that they can afford to pay more tax. Our economic analysis of the proposal is that in fact the Australian economy will continue to grow and that replacing royalties with the RSPT will actually increase resource sector investment by about 4.5 per cent. (Time expired)