Merv09,

I wonder what countries you think have done well with their economies?

Whilst we could definitely do with some diversification of industry, the fact is that Australians are very wealthy by global standards. Much of this wealth comes from primary industries, but we have always had a comparitive adavantge in this field.

One would need a very selective reading of events to suggest that it was only Australia's economy which had suffered " a recession or three .. in the past 40 years"

Ah, if only life were so simple, as Mervononomics09. But I do
understand that some of the elderly have fond memories of the past,
the human mind works by association. So according to Merv09,
just raise taxes and raise tariffs and all will be well!

Sorry Merv, its all far more complicated then that.

One of the best interviews that I've seen recently,
in understanding the global big picture and Australia's role in
it all, was when Paul Keating appeared on Charlie Rose, a few
nights ago. I checked and there is in fact a full length transcript
of the show, if you hit the transcript button.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11328#frame_top

I was quite impressed by what he had to say but it was hardly mentioned in the Australian press.

PaulL should pay more; his house and all his property should be confiscated to pay for his redistributionist opinions, commonly known as thieving - all for the public good of course. That is a simple fact.

Belly,

The MRRT is not a once off tax. While the price of minerals is high, it probably won't hurt the mining industry much, but when the boom comes to an end as it will inevitably, there is little doubt that the highest tax regime in the world will stifle investment and cost jobs.

PaulL,

When the mines make more, they pay more tax already, at a present rate of about 42% of profits. The Labor government is simply looking for a cash cow to pay for their profligacy.

The point of the discussion was however, that every time that Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard have made a stand on this issue, they have had to back down. Neither their word nor their resolve carry any weight.

Shadow minister, Peter Hulme,

Did you know that the royalty rates for iron ore are 2.5% of value. That means that at the current going rate of $130 a tonne the iron ore companies pay $3.25 for their resource. Coal is 8.5%. The business I work for pays all the same taxes as the mining companies and we pay 10 times that for our raw materials.

I'd me interested to see where you get your figures Shadow minister. I have little doubt that Rio is claiming the royalties as a tax as well.

Royalties are NOT a tax. Virtually every other business pays a significant proportion of its costs in its raw materials. In this case, those raw materials are ours. And they are paying very little for them, and making a lot of money at the same time.

Mining is vitally important to the economy and I do not wish to see it harmed. My own livelihood depnds upon it. The simple facts are that big mining can (and should) afford to pay a little more,.

Granted that Swan, Gillard and Rudd have been unforgiveably clumsy. But they would never have got mining to the table if they hadn't been aware that they were making super profits, and paying not much for the privelege.

PaulL

Royalties not a tax? On what planet?

tax Definition
A fee charged ("levied") by a government on a product, income, or activity. The purpose of taxation is to finance government

The states consider it a tax, the accounting profession considers it a tax, the Federal government considers it a tax. Pray tell, what luminary source can you provide to show that it is not?

The percentage tax figures were published in the papers as excerpts from the audited yearly results.