Senate debates Questions without Notice

Mining


Mathias Cormann

Mathias Cormann WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer

2:16 pm

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given the minister has again claimed commercial-in-confidence, why is it that the three biggest miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, are the only ones allowed to know what the government's mining tax revenue assumptions are? Didn't the government give them enough of a competitive advantage by giving them exclusive access to negotiations about the mining tax deal in the first place? Why, Minister, are they the only ones allowed to know the revenue assumptions the govern­ment has used? Why has nobody else got a right to know— (Time expired)

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