Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Deputy President is from Tasmania. We had the pleasure of coming in at the same time. I too rise to make my contribution to the debate on Senator Cormann's matter of public importance today. Quite frankly—forgive me, Mr Deputy President—it has been a long year, and it is getting crazier as the year goes on. Fortunately, after today we only have four days and two weeks until we will be able to get out of here and get some clear air, without listening to some of the nonsense in this chamber.

I just want to go back, for those who have the misfortune to have to sit through this pain to listen to some of the nonsense coming out here not only from the opposition, which you expect, but also from the Greens, with their crystal ball wonderful view of the world: how it will all be sorted out over a cup of tea. It was not sorted out in Tasmania, I believe, when Paul Howes was trying to negotiate a sensible outcome with the Greens to get some mining, to get some employment and some productivity to Tasmania, which desperately needs it—but anyway, that is another matter.

I will take this house back to how the mining tax came about. It was part of the Henry tax review. Quite simply, it was a very torrid time in Australia's history. We had gone through a massive financial challenge in the GFC. Quite frankly, when the mining tax was announced, the hysteria that we witnessed coming from that side of the chamber, in cahoots with a handful of their mining mates, was nothing short of embarrassing. I remember travelling throughout Western Australia in 2010 for that last election. If someone were a visitor to these great shores from another country and they had the misfortune of having to listen to the unfolding Liberal campaign of what they were not going to do should they gain government—it really makes me wonder—they could walk away and think, 'How did this country ever make it into the OECD?' It really was ridiculously embarrassing, but that is history and we had to put up with it.

But you can understand why, because I remember when the tax was announced. It was very topical in Western Australia, particularly with it being a mining state and, as many commentators like to say, the engine room of the economy. Coal is nowhere near as big in WA as it is in Queensland, but iron ore is huge, as we are well aware. We saw the usual suspects. Didn't they come out of the woodwork! Didn't those poor, poor billionaires take offence! The first thing they did was put a phone call in to their mates in the Liberal Party: 'Help! The nasty Labor government's going to make us pay a profit based tax.' This is the part that really annoys me, even though it is November and it has been a long year. We are talking profit based. What we clearly said was—and we were told this numerous times by the Minerals Council of Australia—that mining royalties are a very inept tax. It taxes whether mining companies are in profit or not. The Minerals Council of Australia were welcoming a change to the royalties based taxation. They believe strongly, as does the Labor government, that if companies are making a good, decent profit, over $50 million, then it could be expected that they could put a bit more into the nation.

And then we saw them—and I remember on the causeway 'Axe the tax', I think it was, a really ingenious name for a rally. There was Senator Cormann standing next to the biggest set of pearls ever seen in Australia, and they were hanging around the neck of poor old Ms Reinhardt, whose profits I think have ballooned from $5 billion to $20 billion in the last couple of years, who had taken complete offence at the idea that she should have to or her companies should have to pay any more tax once they had profited by $50 billion—no, I am sorry; I just did a Senator Joyce; it is $50 million. It all rolls off the tongue pretty easily when you start getting over the couple of hundred I find in my pocket on a Friday! But there they were, singing out, screaming how unfair it was, ably abetted by none other than the other poor billionaire from WA, Mr Andrew Forrest.

There he was on the front page of the paper, whingeing and complaining because no-one would take his calls, saying how hard done by the mining industry would be, how unfair it was for the Australian government to expect ridiculously profitable miners to pay a couple more dollars in their taxation requirements each year should they break the $50 million profit margin and how bad it would be for his Solomon Hub. For those out there who are not familiar with the Solomon Hub, it is a huge iron ore resource in the Pilbara where Mr Forrest is or was planning to absolutely massively expand an iron ore mine. I believe it has run into a little bit of drama at the moment and money is a bit hard to get. In saying that, I hope he does get it. I hope he does expand. I hope he does make a profit. I hope he employs more Western Australians. I hope he employs more Australians. I hope he engages Australian steel manufacturing businesses to help build his mine. I also hope he makes more than that amount of profit and he can contribute to the mining tax.

But there was Mr Forrest, along with Ms Rinehart, whingeing like heck about having to pay more tax. Quite simply it finally came out that Mr Forrest's company, Fortescue Metals Group, had not even paid any tax. It was a ridiculously stupid campaign. It linked him with Mr Abbott's typical 'oppose everything' stance. Let's not talk about what fantastic views or ideas we have in education or health for this great nation, what we would do for generations of Australians to follow and how great we could make their lives and their contribution to the national economy. No, it was all about what he would not do.

On that, we must remember that the sky was going to collapse. It was going to fall in. This was Armageddon for the industry. This was going to destroy mining. It was going to destroy Australia. It was going to destroy mining jobs. This is regardless of the fact that we have a $260 billion investment pipeline in this country. There is a lot of investment going on. There is a lot of excitement around the mining industry. But we must not forget that the iron ore price has dropped. There is no argument: the iron ore price has taken a dive. I think the figures that just came out in MYEFO, the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, expected commodity prices to drop, including 38 per cent for iron ore. Yes, that would make a difference. It would make it hard. We must remember that the mining resource rent tax is a volatile tax. If mining is up and commodity prices are up, then the tax will be collected.

But it is no different to what happened in the great era of the Hawke government, when Prime Minister Bob Hawke initiated the petroleum resource rent tax, which is a very similar tax but structured around oil and gas. At the time, those on the other side of this place and in the other house voted against the petroleum resource rent tax because they did not want their massively rich mates in the mining and resource sector to have to pay tax and contribute to Australia's welfare over and above what they were doing in their normal company taxes. They also opposed the mining tax. There they were, the Geppettos, the puppet masters. We know who they are—I have mentioned them already. I should also mention Mr Clive Palmer at the same time, as the largest contributor of financial donations to the LNP, who at the time thought it was not a good idea either.

But let's take one step further. That side of the chamber were opposing it and all this Armageddon was going to be created in Australia's economy. 'Let's look at the audacity of the Labor government introducing a tax—how bad is that!' But when a Liberal government introduces a tax that is alright. We have seen that. They are all very quiet on that side. I challenge them to pipe up, because they know darn well that they bagged us for three years about the mining tax, but when Mr Campbell Newman, the Premier of Queensland, implemented his money grab through a royalty charge— not a profit based tax but a royalty tax—they went quiet. Not all of them went quiet, though. One of them who did not go quiet was none other than Rio Tinto. I want to quote from the Australian Mining magazine. It is about Rio Tinto and it says:

Rio Tinto has announced it will slash more jobs across its coal mines in Queensland as the state raises its royalty rates.

It also goes on to say that Rio Tinto:

… warned last week that the Queensland Government's decision to raise the royalty rate would directly impact its operations.

Now a Rio spokesperson has said that "the Queensland Government's decision last week to increase royalties is the latest example of the cost escalations affecting the coal industry.

Did we hear a peep out of those across the other side? No, we did not. There was another Queenslander who had a bit to say: Mr Palmer.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer—

to quote ABC news—

says any increase in mining royalty rates will "kill" the state's economy and drive thousands of Queenslanders out of work.

Did we hear a peep from any of the usual suspects from Queensland who could not wait to bag the federal government's mining tax? We did not—not a word. I would like to hear them in here making their contributions, but of course I will not hold my breath because that is not going to happen. They are all hiding under their desks outside. Mr Palmer went on to say:

Increased mining royalties on top of widespread sackings is hardly a recipe for growth in this state.

I could not agree with him more, because it is not a profit based tax.

We will have to dig a bit deeper. We have to understand why there is so much confusion over on that side. Why is there so much negativity? Why is it more popular to be negative, not to contribute to what a great country we can be and should be? It all stems back, I believe, to none other than their leader, Mr Abbott. I have to raise a couple of issues with the chamber to show why there is such confusion and such negativity over on that side. I have in my hand an excerpt from the Age. It is by Lenore Taylor, that very distinguished journalist from the Age, and it is dated 25 August 2012. She is talking about Mr Abbott and his 'inconvenient fiscal truth'. It says here:

Undeterred in his quest for carbon tax-induced wreckage—

following on from the mining tax—

the Coalition leader appears now to be claiming as evidence any unrelated piece of economic bad news.

It goes on to say of Mr Abbott:

Hence he appeared in mournful procession with his South Australian MPs—

and I do remember them all following Mr Abbott like a pack of sheep out onto the lawn to do a press conference—

to declare that the carbon and mining taxes were, in fact, responsible for BHP Billiton's decision to shelveexpansion plans for its Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine.

I have to tell you that is absolutely unbelievable, because someone should have told Mr Abbott and all the South Australian MPs who just followed as if the rings through their noses were hooked to his belt, that the mining tax does not affect copper or uranium. Well, der! How incompetent can one opposition party be? I have to agree with Ms Lenore Taylor: it is Mr Abbott's inconvenient fiscal truth.

Let us take this one step further, to talk about inconvenient fiscal truth. I was not in that chamber when it did come up, but we all know it did—I am talking about the other house over there. I will quote another article from David Rowe from the Age, published on 11 October this year. Mr Rowe writes that Mr Abbott was in question time and he was resuming his attacks, this time on the carbon tax—and, guess what?—the sky hasn't caved in and it has been operating for a few months. But, anyway, let's not let the truth get in the way of a good Abbott story. Allegedly, Mr Abbott and the Liberals had produced an electricity bill from a Perth woman named Hetty Verolme. Mrs Verolme's electricity bill from early June to early August was $1,563.70, up from $736.25 in the previous period according to the document that Mr Abbott tabled in parliament. Mr Abbott went on to say:

With an $800 increase in just one bill, of which 70 per cent is due to the carbon tax, how can the Prime Minister possibly claim that Hetty's compensation is in any way adequate?

Mr Abbott then went on to say that the poor woman 'nearly had a heart attack'. I tell you who should have had a heart attack; it should have been the whole Liberal team sitting on that side of the chamber with Dr No. What the bill showed was that Mrs Verolme used approximately twice as much electricity over the most recent period when compared to the previous one.

This is incompetence from a fellow who wants to put himself up as the alternative Prime Minister that I would like to bring to the attention of all Australians. If you can be fooled by Mr Abbott—and he cannot even fool anyone for more than two seconds in question time—Australia needs to be very, very wary—(Time expired)