Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to criticism of his big new tax on mining from Mr John Ralph AC, formerly chief executive of CRA, director of BHP, chairman of the Commonwealth Bank, former president of the Business Council of Australia and chairman of the .. Mr Ralph says:

A decision to impose a 40 per cent tax rate on earnings above the bond rate will reduce future investment …

He goes on to say:

Only those projects with a very high projected return would proceed. A suggestion that an increase in taxation would result in an increase in investment could only be made by somebody not living in the real world.

Does the Prime Minister agree with his Treasurer who said yesterday that critics of the mining tax are ‘either lying to you or they are ignorant’. Prime Minister, is Mr Ralph lying or is he ignorant?

See this speech in context