All so very predictable:
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will seek clarification about the future of iron ore taxes in meetings with the West Australian government over the next 48 hours, after premier Mark McGowan softened his stance on extracting “billions of dollars” from the miners on Monday.
Just days after flagging his desire for BHP and Rio to pay future years’ iron ore lease rentals in a lump sum to help solve WA’s financial problems, Mr McGowan said on Monday he would not engage in “attacking mining companies”.Mr McGowan, who was elected premier in March, reiterated that his plan would only go ahead if the miners agreed and the federal government was willing to exclude it from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Without the exclusion much of money raised would be distributed to other states.
Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison was non-committal on whether Mr McGowan’s plan would be exempt from the GST.
No, the people must pay instead, via the ABC:
The WA Government has left the door open to backflipping on a pair of key election promises after less than three months in office, refusing to guarantee its commitment not to introduce new taxes still stands.
Education Minister Sue Ellery also would not guarantee the Government would push ahead with its controversial plans for Perth Modern School, after a significant backlash to the proposal in recent months.
On the state budget, Premier Mark McGowan repeatedly said during the election campaign there “would be no new taxes or increases [of] taxes on West Australians” if Labor was elected.
But today, asked repeatedly whether the commitment still stood, Treasurer Ben Wyatt refused to give a guarantee.
“You have to as a Government respond to the circumstances you find and that is what we will do,” he said.
All I can say is everyone will have to pay. The bust has only just started and the Budget is only halfway down the bottomless pit:
The key inputs are all hilariously inflated still. In order, population growth and consumption are supposed to rebound but on what? Population growth is down to 1% and falling fast versus a projected 1.3% and rising:
And wages keep crashing versus some hoped-for turnaround:
Dwelling investment is about to halve versus the projected 1.5% increase:
Business investment is going to halve versus the -17% hoped for:
We’re already $5 below the forecast iron ore price and it is going to get much, much worse. It should have $40 average prices over the forward estimates.
Everyone will have to pay.
