Barnett renews attack on mining tax

27 Oct 2011, 7:33 am   -   Source: AAP
1 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
1
Mr Barnett has been an opponent to the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) from the outset. (AAP)

Mr Barnett has been an opponent to the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) from the outset. (AAP)

WA Premier Colin Barnett has renewed his attack on the federal government's mining tax, saying China's concern is increasing about sovereign risk in Australia.

RELATED

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has renewed his attack on the federal government's mining tax, saying it had raised concerns in China about sovereign risk in Australia.

Mr Barnett has been an opponent to the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) from the outset.

"Without doubt, the biggest impact has been on Australia's reputation as a reliable supplier of resources and a secure destination for investment," he said in a speech prepared for the Commonwealth Business Forum dinner in Perth on Wednesday.

He said that at meetings he had with Chinese political and business leaders, the conversation invariably began with complaints about the MRRT.

"I do my best to reassure them," he said.

China is a major buyer of WA iron ore and investor in a number of major resource projects in the state.

Mr Barnett said the concern was about a new tax when projects were already in construction or planned and upfront investment had already been made.

"For the first time in my 20 years in politics, I have heard the term 'sovereign risk' raised in an Australian context."

The premier said that at the very least, the higher cost and lower grade magnetite iron ore projects should be exempt from the MRRT.

He said some proposed magnetite projects had already lost their financial backers.

The WA government would continue to strongly oppose the MRRT, Mr Barnett said.

"Let's recognise the importance of mining and take care to avoid damaging it. For Australia, the MRRT is an "own-goal", he said.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

Spread the wealth

Ray Pasteur - from Melbourne, 7 months ago

Greed, greed and more greed. The plan isn't going to wipe away jobs as much as these Liberals like to say. In fact they're too ignorant to realise the benefit it has to super for Australian workers. Mind you they don't care, they'd rather have money in their pocket than give other employees extra cash for the future.

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.