Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I invited the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, to the electorate of Paterson to see firsthand the impact of the Rudd Labor government 40 per cent resource super tax and the effects it would have on my locally owned Bloomfield Colliery, owned and operated by William Cant and John Richardson. It was Tony Abbott’s second trip to the Hunter since becoming opposition leader. The first time was to discuss the great big new tax , the emissions trading scheme. We now find ourselves again fighting off the next great big new tax.

The resource super tax will slug the mining industry, put the future jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australians at risk and will savage the retirement savings of millions of Australians. It hits both workers whose superannuation funds have been invested in resource stocks and self-funded retirees alike. It will force resource companies to reassess any future investment in Australia, including expansion of their existing mines. This will make investments in other countries a more attractive option, sending Australian jobs offshore.

Bloomfield Colliery employs approximately 500 people in the Hunter Valley. Mining is a critically important industry to the fortunes of the Hunter Valley and not more so than around Maitland area. It is not just the mum and dad businesses like Bloomfield. There are all the mining support industries based in the area, like those in Tomago, Thornton, Rutherford and Beresfield. Indeed, the whole Maitland region will be affected.

This is where our people live. This is where our people work. I cannot understand why the member for Newcastle, the member for Charlton and the member for Hunter are rejoicing in this great big new tax to be imposed on the mining industry, especially when it will directly affect their constituents—the people that they seek to represent in this parliament. I call on those Labor members to come out against the Prime Minister’s great big new taxes and finally stand up and support the mining industry and its workers in our area.

We have already seen what this reckless tax grab has resulted in across the country. The Macarthur coal deal on Gloucester and Duralie Mines has fallen over, BHP Billiton are casting doubt over the $20 billion expansion of Olympic Dam, Santos are deferring a decision on a $15 billion LNG export terminal in Gladstone, Fortescue Metals Group are putting $17.5 billion worth of projects in the Pilbara on hold, Xstrata are suspending a $30 million regional exploration program and Origin Energy are predicting increases in domestic energy and fuel prices.

This 50 per cent increase in mining taxes will make the Australian resource industry the highest taxed in the world and taxed at more than double the rate of our biggest competitor, Canada. While the Rudd Labor government has tried to brush aside the legitimate concerns of the mining industry by referring to the development of offshore oil and gas projects under the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, the comparison does not stand up to scrutiny. The PRRT is very different to the resource super tax, just as the oil and gas industry bears no resemblance to hard rock gold mines. The resource super tax is a retrospective attack on investments that were made in good faith and cuts in at a lower rate than the PRRT, making more projects unprofitable and eroding business confidence.

The resource sector is one of the most productive parts of the Australian economy and employs half a million Australians both directly and taking into account the jobs it generates in other industries and within small businesses. The mining industry helped steer Australia through the global financial crisis. It was the most important sector in rebuilding after the recession of the 1990s and it should have been underpinning the Australian economy for decades to come.

The future of the mining industry is too important to the Australian economy to become the next victim of the high spending, high taxing Rudd government. I would have thought that the member for Newcastle, the member for Charlton and the member for Hunter would have supported their communities as those communities will be directly affected by this super tax. It will be those jobs that will be destroyed.

When you combine the effect of the ETS with this great big new tax, you have a mega tax on the mining industry which will affect the communities. Sponsorships that mining companies provide like that of the Newcastle Knights who are sponsored by Coal and Allied and the generous community financial support will all be affected by this Rudd Labor tax. Obviously those communities are not supported like those who live in the Paterson electorate who I am elected to represent. That is why I invited Tony Abbott up to the area last week to provide that support to the miners, to those in the community dependent on this economic flow through our region. I will continue to stand up against this new tax grab as the future of the mining industry is too important to the Australian economy.