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

My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to reports that the government is in live option negotiations with the coalseam-gas-fed LNG companies for the first of the government’s backdowns over the mining tax grab. Have you got something to say, Prime Minister? I am happy to entertain debate.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for North Sydney will go to his question.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

It’s psychobabble!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for North Sydney with a question.

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

Will the Treasurer inform the House what the financial implications of carving out the LNG industry from the impact of the mining tax are for the budget’s bottom line?

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I have said on numerous occasions, the government is having very constructive discussions with a wide range of companies, both big and small—serious companies that see Australia as a very attractive place to invest and will continue to invest here for a long time. Only late last week the Prime Minister and I and the resources minister met with representatives from Chevron. They are making a $43 billion investment in this economy and are considering doing more—and that is what they said to us in their discussions with us at the end of last week. And there are many companies like that; many companies outside of the petroleum and gas sector are looking to this country. Only late last week we had a report that Peabody was looking at substantially investing more in coal in this country.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They announced they were.

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

Mr Hockey interjecting

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You might want to believe your own propaganda, but it is simply not true.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for North Sydney will stop interjecting. The Treasurer will ignore the interjections.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is a very attractive place for them to invest in and many of the investors from China that were here have the same view; they have this view in the United States and they have it elsewhere. This is an attractive place to invest, it is a very good place to invest, and they are continuing to invest. The question that I have been asked is: what have the government done in relation to one particular company? What the government have done is to sit down and talk to companies, as we said we would do.

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

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It goes to relevance. He was asked what the impact is on the budget.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney will resume his place. The Treasurer is responding to the question.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All of the estimates in terms of the budget and our resource super profits tax are there in the budget papers. We are doing now what we said we would do from day one, which is to sit down and talk to industry about this proposal, to talk to them about generous transitional provisions, to talk to them about all the detail of the tax as it affects their sector and as it affects individual companies. Those discussions are ongoing and those are discussions which I am confident will be successfully concluded.