Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I am enthusiastic about trade but they are not, Mr Speaker. They never ask a question about it. If they are interested in the impact of trade in relation to this tax, I can tell them the conversations I have had in Japan and China recently are ones that are very supportive of the direction of this tax because it will increase the supply side of the equation, get a better match between the demand for our resources and our ability to more efficiently produce it. What we are doing is introducing a tax that takes out the disincentives that currently exist—disincentives that relate to the requirement to pay royalties before any profit is turned. This tax that we are introducing will effectively eliminate those royalties upfront.

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