Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

(1)   That the Senate notes that:

  (a)   on 18 March 2012, the Prime Minister promised former Senator Bob Brown, then Leader of the Australian Greens, that the Government would publish monthly updates on revenue collections from the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT); and

  (b)   the MRRT legislation came into effect on 1 July 2012.

(2)   That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, no later than noon on the 20th day of every month, information relating to the MRRT revenue collected by the Government in the preceding calendar month, broken down by state or territory of collection and by commodity type.

(3)   If the Senate is not sitting when a statement is ready for presentation, the statement is to be presented to the President in accordance with standing order 166.

(4)   This order is of continuing effect.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a brief statement.

Leave granted for one minute.

I would like to reiterate the commitment that the government has previously made on this issue that we will commit to publishing monthly updates on revenue collections for resource rent taxes and will be consulting the Australian Taxation Office on the best way that this can be achieved.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Cormann be agreed to.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. The Greens have again let the government off the hook and helped them to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of their mining tax revenue estimates. It is important to note here that the government has been persistently avoiding scrutiny of their mining tax revenue estimates for the last two years. There is serious doubt that the mining tax will raise the revenue they said it would raise.

After Senator Brown said the Senate should 'flex its muscle' earlier this year, they rolled over in exchange for a promise of monthly updates from the Prime Minister. Those monthly updates cannot happen. The Prime Minister made a promise to the Greens in order to get their support for passage of the mining tax legislation that she cannot deliver on; the mining tax instalments are paid on a quarterly basis so there will not be any monthly updates. The Greens, having rolled over in March when they refused to insist on Senate orders enforcing the release of mining tax revenue— (Time expired)

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

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

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

Thank you. Senator Cormann has got that completely wrong. If he had listened a moment ago, he would know that the undertaking was that Treasury will make the material available publicly and the government will talk to Treasury about how best to do that. The assumption there is that it will go up on a website. Either way, Treasury will be making that material available and the government made that undertaking before the vote. As I indicated, the undertaking from the government was that Treasury will make that material publicly available, and that will occur.