Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition’s question also went to the impact on jobs. I find this remarkable from the Leader of the Opposition, who has resolutely opposed any form of stimulus in the economy, which has created 225,000 jobs in this economy. Had we followed the prescription of those opposite, we would have had 200,000 more people in Australia out of work. So, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to stand on his feet here and speak sanctimoniously about his concerns for jobs, I would ask him to reflect on his own party’s record on the question of how we responded to the global economic recession. That is the second point.

The third is this, and it goes to the particular statement put out by Xstrata this morning: it is passing strange that, when we have a new system which was announced just one month ago, we have 12 months to go before draft legislation and we are 24 months away from the start of a new system, a company of this nature would issue a statement of this type. Furthermore, in relation to the particular project at Wandoan, I add the following: under the proposed RSPT, first of all, such a project would have been eligible for a 40 per cent tax credit on its investment—that is the first point. The second is that coal royalties payable to the Queensland government would have been refunded. Furthermore, when it comes to the use of the tax credit, that becomes available to the company irrespective of whether it is generating a profit or not. This stands in stark contrast to the royalty system, which is a crude—

See this speech in context