As Mitch Hooke declares his intention to depart the Minerals Council, the senate is set to investigate his handwork. From the AFR:
A Senate inquiry into the mining tax will go ahead after the Greens agreed to amend the terms of reference to remove any mention of strengthening the tax.
Greens leader Christine Milne, who proposed the inquiry, agreed to the compromise with the coalition on Tuesday afternoon after a dispute over the inquiry’s terms of reference.
…She will retain one term of reference which enables the inquiry to look into “any other related matter’’. This would allow the inquiry to indirectly look at strengthening the tax if the Greens so wished.
So, we will get a steady stream of well-deserved and highly damaging headlines for Labor and the hope of fixing the tax right before it’s dumped. The splendor of Australian politics!
