<< The big problem we face now is the MRRT, as miners now face the prospect of not only risking the huge costs of exploration, but they now must part with a huge portion of their profits, should they strike the mother load. >>

But rehctub, surely the profits from OUR mining resources need to be much better distributed to US, the people of Australia! The MRRT only goes a very small way towards correcting this chronic imbalance.

So what you are really saying is that if the more difficult deposits are developed, the returns to the general community should be piddlingly small, and the returns to a few already rich and powerful people should be absolutely enormous!

So how do we get around this problem?

How do we entice risky exploration and development while striving to break down the gap between the mega-rich and the poor-and-getting-poorer average Australian and get the best possible returns from these resources for the betterment of our whole society?

Quite simple Ludwig, buy shares.

In buying shares, either personally, or as governments, as representatives of the people, the share holders not only get a larger portion of the spoils, but they also share the risks for those ventures that don't turn a profit.

Simply putting ones hand out when strong returns are made, is like taking a bet on a race horse that gives you your money back if it fails to win.

In any case, we have royalties, which by the way, are a return on investment for the owners, us.

Now if these royalties are imbalanced, then by all means look at them, as unlike a tax, royalties can be passed on to the consumer.

At the end of the day though, laws that were in place at the beginning of any business venture, should remain the same until that venture, or phase of it is exhausted.

This is why confidence gets rocked, as nobody can plan for what governments decide they will do mid stream.

Having said this though, our mines are becoming more and more non-competitive as we speak and, therefore it is impossible to estimate peak anything if demand slows, or worst still, stops.

I would also ask, where were the people wanting their share when the price for coal was around $30 per ton, amd most mining projects, some 19 out of 20, failed.

Quite simply, nobody cared.

That's because they only want ownership rights when there is a profit to be made.

Talk about having your cake and eating it!

I think we the tax payers -and owners of our mineral wealth- are already doing more than enough.

According to the Australia Institute (Pdf PB 38)

Introduction excerpt:
“The mining industry is receiving substantial assistance from Australian taxpayers worth more
than $4 billion per year in subsidies and concessions from the Federal Government alone.
Amazingly, this is at a time when the industry is earning record profits. Significantly, the
subsidies and tax concessions set out below do not even include the cost of providing the
mining industry with infrastructure or the substantial State Government subsidies they also receive.”
Traditionally, our benevolent gov has provided dollar for dollar on some exploration projects, often resulting in major returns for the private partners and buggrall for the gov.
Also, as the article suggests, infrastructure costs (railways and ports built with public money specifically for these industries) are not included in these estimates.
Not only are we providing the keys of our vault to the robber barons, we're paying them to rob us.

Rehctub, I envisage big problems with the ‘buying shares’ approach.

Firstly, it is only those with substantial ‘surplus’ money who would be willing to invest significantly in risky mining ventures, I would think. Even if the ordinary person did invest quite a bit, they would not be making a huge return. And all those people, which would be the vast majority of the population, who are very reasonably not willing to take the risk, would get nothing!

I can’t that see this as the answer. A much better return from our mineral wealth needs to go to the government rather than directly into the pockets of investors, so that it can be put into services and infrastructure for the whole community.

.

< Not only are we providing the keys of our vault to the robber barons, we're paying them to rob us. >

Wow, it really is grim, Grim! We need to go a whole lot further than just implementing a small (and little more than tokenistic) increase in tax on mining companies!

So, Australia is full of schizophrenic politicians and CEO's who Strut their LOVE for Kids while stealing their future? Politicians who suffer mental breakdown at the dawning of this thruth , rendering them incapable of guilt while they offshore jobs, dismantle all industry and tight-fist the inevitable rising DOLE bill?

You are telling us these politicians are putting their own heads on the chopping block & we should be afraid?

Tell it to someone who cares!

If IMMIGRATION were to cease, the need for and opportunity for profit and power MAD governments like the ALP would be removed along with the current RESOURCE RAPE.

But the political Schizophrenia and short-sightedness in Canberra and the State Capitals is beyond redemption. Civil war along MultiForeigner lines will soon get rid of such morons along with 200 years of BS Anglo centric Australian history. God knows what will become of our stupid politicians. But like most real Australians HE probably doesn't care either!

INCESTTUOUS political parties - Damn them all to hell along with their gerrymandering immigrant butt-lickers!

The first thing about stone age survival was to protect the cave.
Those who invited the neighbourhood over as a method of gaining internal political power by multigenomic experiments are now EXTINCT.

Nothing has changed except the STUPIDITY of Australian Politicians who have lost touch with their own electorates so much that they have a need to import votes and make their dissaffected people pay through the nose for it as revenge.

So we need foreign capital? Why?
Almost anyone can remember Lance Hancock and the mountains of iron ore he discovered in the Pilbra?
Remember how he went cap in hand to virtually every Australian govt, for some start-up capital?
A few millions, we clearly could afford at the time.
When he had exhausted all the govts he was left with no choice but to seek foreign investors. One arrived with a letter of credit from Chase Manhattan!
What we out here in the antipodes didn't realise, Chase was technically insolvent and only saved from collapse, by 5 minutes to midnight, oil finds in Mexico.
Nonetheless the virtually worthless letter of credit, was all that was required to open up Australian banks and flood the project, with all the start up capital required.
We built the big diesel electric Wabco trucks and the walking drag lines that got many of our largest projects up and running.
We built the railway lines, and the ports that allowed these and other products, to earn billions for foreign nationals.
Wages for miners at that time, were half what our American compatriots were earning.
The point I'm making, we could have done all we did, minus the foreign nationals and their virtually worthless letter of credit, and kept our massive wealth earning resources in Australian hands, along with the many hundreds of billions they have since earned.
It's perfectly okay to make a mistake or two. This is how we learn!
But it's not okay to keep on repeating them or listening to the self serving dribble, of those who endlessly claim we need foreign capital.
What we need is a brand new peoples' bank and a credit and debit ledger; that finally works in our favour, rather than debt laden foreign speculators?
Who not only get their hands on our most profitable prospects, but expect us to service all the debt instruments created by them in the process; adding inexorably to our exponentially expanding record foreign debt, which not only deprives us of mind-blowing massive export incomes, but huge tax receipts as well!
Rhrosty.