Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate. The government has been ducking and weaving now for two years, trying to avoid scrutiny of its mining tax revenue estimates. There continues to be serious doubt about the revenue the mining tax will raise. The government has refused for two years to release the commodity price and production volume assumptions—information which state governments release transparently as a matter of course in their budget papers.

Of course, when faced with the potential that the Greens might vote against their mining tax legislation in the Senate earlier this year, the Prime Minister made a promise to the Greens that the government would publish monthly updates on mining tax revenue collections. The government should have known that they would not be in a position to comply and to follow through on the Prime Minister's promise. This is yet another broken promise by Julia Gillard, our Prime Minister. This is all just part of a big mining tax mess.

Question agreed to.