“Not all inquiries are bad because it can create transparency, but this is a ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ money,” Mr MacKenzie told ABC on Tuesday.
From the AFR:
Mr MacKenzie denied BHP Billiton was acting in an anti-competitive manner and added that in 2012 the company cancelled investment for 180 million tonnes of iron ore because he “saw the market turning”.
“It would be an amazing gift to our major competitor Brazil,” he said.
Nobody is going to accuse me favouring BHP, having smashed it relentlessly through the iron ore boom but these three point are all correct. Yes, it is a waste of money. Yes, BHP has cancelled a lot of future production. And yes, a cartel involving juniors would favour Brazil.
And now, from Ian Macfarlane:
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says “no one in the government” wants to regulate the iron ore market, arguing it is the independent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s role to investigate alleged distortions.
Yes it is but some in government do want to regulate iron ore.
And now our Bill chimes in:
DEBATE over whether there should be a parliamentary inquiry into iron ore prices is clouding Australia’s reliability as a trading partner, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has warned.
MR Shorten wants the federal government to make a decision about an inquiry and release its terms of reference.
“They should be careful that they’re allowing our international reputation to drift dangerously,” he told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.
If the debate is so damaging what is the inquiry going to do and why is Labor supporting it at all?
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