Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is set to come face-to-face with hundreds of angry miners in Western Australia.
Up to 1,000 protesters unhappy with the federal government's proposed new resources tax are expected to rally outside Perth's Hyatt Regency at midday.
They will be hoping to get their message through to Mr Rudd minutes before he delivers a speech about investing in WA's future to the Perth Press Club inside the hotel.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest, head of Fortescue Metals Group, is expected to join demonstrators from the back of a flatbed truck.
He will also meet Mr Rudd privately to discuss the controversial 40 per cent tax on resources so-called super profits in the coming days.
Mr Rudd has promised to negotiate the proposal - but not the actual tax rate - with miners, and met with BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers in Sydney yesterday.
Community cabinet
Tonight in Perth, Mr Rudd and his cabinet will get a feel for the sentiments of ordinary West Australians when he chairs a community cabinet meeting at Como in the city's south.
The questions from the floor should give the government a good indication if its mining tax is as big a vote loser in WA as many people are saying.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard faced a frosty reception from mining executives yesterday as she addressed a business luncheon attended by Mr Forrest.
She tried to ease concerns about the tax, saying debate was good and there was no need for fear.
"I am concerned that as the debate rages, there is fear being generated in some parts of the Western Australian community," she told the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Minerals Council of Australia has released a new television advertisement capitalising on Treasurer Wayne Swan's admission that some miners could be paying up to 58 per cent tax under the government's proposal.
