Flogging of a non-renewable resource just because it's there is a bit like how we sold our gold reserves for a third of today's price for immediate political gain.

If we've got it and they want it, they will come for it.

60% of something is still better than 100% of nothing.

This idea that Canadia is awash with Iron ore and Coal seems to me a more than a little ludicrous. There is a reason the miners come to Australia and the main one is BECAUSE THATS WHERE THE MINERALS ARE.

Dont fall for this propaganda from the fat cats. They can afford to remove their snouts from the trough by just a smidgen and allow the rest of us to get a fair return on what after all belongs to every Ausralian citizen both present and future.

Mikk, nobody claimed that Canada was loaded with iron ore and
coal, but those are just two minerals that miners mine.

BHP has in fact already put its paw on a Tier 1 Potash deposit
in Canada, which will suck up around 10 billion$ in development
costs. They are going to push ahead with projects, where they
are left with the most profit, so Australian projects will simply
be put on the backburner. Miners are patient people.

Once a mine is up and running, most of it is automated and they
don't really employ so many people. Its in building these projects
that a huge amount of jobs occur. But then Australians clearly don't
need those jobs.

So yes, mining of iron ore and coal will still continue, any remaining
profits from those ventures, will simply be invested in other
parts of the world.

The investors who have lent us 1 trillion$ will look at our rising
current account deficit, and wonder how they will be repaid.
They will want a premium from Australia for those funds, just
like they now want a premium from Greece. For more risk to them
means higher interest rates, to cover the higher risk.

Banks will have no choice but to pass this on to homeowners and
businesses.

Mikk and his friends might well then be demonstrating in the streets,
like the Greek unions, who burned down a bank just yesterday.
It will do them a fat lot of good, for reality will not go away.
And there won't be an EU nanny to bale us out either. The
Chinese will move in and buy our resources cheaply and I can
assure you that they won't pay 43% tax, as BHP now pay!

But as they say, some people need pain to learn the hard way.
So we live in interesting times indeed

When this discussion started I thought the tax was a good thing. However, I have changed my mind due to the arguments made against it.

Don't overlook the fact that most of the profits leave the country anyway- based on the overseas ownership of each mining company.
The new tax isn't taking ALL their profits, just an increased share and is actually in line with their own submissions to the Mineral Council not so long ago.

They wanted something like this in place to increase their profits after the boom inevitably finishes.

Then again, maybe we should give all overseas majority companies a free ride to attract their investment. Then we can watch even more of our GNP leave the country while the taxpayer picks up a bigger share of the running cost of the country.

Rache,

I can hardly believe this "Don't overlook the fact that most of the profits leave the country anyway- based on the overseas ownership of each mining company."

These big mining companies are formed from many different companies around the world. Much of the profit flowing to Australian share holders comes from mines overseas. If the overseas governments also treated the big mining companies like their own personal piggy banks, the minerals would remain in the ground.

Now that manufacturing industries have moved overseas, it is the turn of the mining companies to be fleeced for short term gain.