According to the West Australian:
The resources sector believes there will be a surge in jobs and investment after the mining tax was finally killed by Federal Parliament yesterday.
…The Prime Minister said the mining tax had dragged down the Australian economy and the mining sector for too long.
“We have seen the back of the mining tax – possibly the most foolish tax in the history of our country – a tax that destroyed jobs, a tax that damaged investment, a tax which cost money and a tax which did not raise any revenue,” he said.
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Simon Bennison said the abolition of the tax would produce tangible economic benefits.
“This will improve investor confidence and create more jobs for Australians,” he said.
Australian Mines and Metals Association chief executive Steve Knott said with more than $200 billion of investment still in the pipeline, ending the tax would remove a problem.
“It does get us back on a level playing field and better supports Australian enterprises to pursue efficiencies, innovate and compete in a highly globalised marketplace,” he said.
Honestly, does the PM actually believe this? Last year when he declared removing the tax would revitalise Olympic Dam, BHP immediately released a presser declaring it would have no bearing on the project.
The mining tax collected no revenue yet somehow it is supposed to have distorted billion-dollar investment decisions. It was a rent tax anyway so had it gone ahead it would still not have affected investment decisions. It was applied to only iron ore and coal, both of which are now imploding owing to the end of the China boom, and it’s still going to create jobs?
What killing the tax does do is ensure that the various measures it was supposed to fund die as well. These included a number of measures that would have created jobs, including a corporate tax cut. And because the senate has insisted on keeping some of them, more austerity will be needed (costing more jobs) to make up the deficit. Then there are PR jobs that will be lost now that the tax has been destroyed.
I can’t believe that this level of economic ignorance makes it into the press, let alone as fact.
