Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, we are saving the government from itself. Senator Abetz spoke about worrying about savings measures. Well, we are interested in revenue measures. We think it is appropriate that people actually pay their way in this country, and the big end of town do not want to pay their way. They cannot wait. They want you to sit here to get rid of the mining tax so they can maximise their fortunes. No doubt Gina Rinehart and others are on the phone saying, 'Come on; sit there until you get rid of the mining tax so that we can maximise our profits.' I can tell you, Mr President, there are a lot of people around the country who do not want to see the mining tax go, because they believe that the big end of town should pay their way in this country, and we intend to make sure that they do. In fact, we should be raising the mining tax, not actually getting rid of it. We need to have the revenue. We have got a revenue crisis in this country—and that is what we should be addressing.

Government senators interjecting—