How dare this government, the unions and their supporters continue to accuse the miners of not paying their fair share of tax.

These miners are paying more tax than most and, they are working within the boundaries that have been laid out by the tax laws.

It's not their fault the goal posts have been shifted.

Now whether you support the MRRT or not, these miners must not be victimized by these continued accusations that they are somehow cheating tax.

It is unfair and misleading labor spin.

But rehctub, something doesn’t add up here. In fact there is the most enormous disparity.

This is; the disparity between the enormous wealth that is being generated by mining and has been for many years of boom times now, and the declining or at least stagnant quality of life, society, environment in this country!

Yes, there is a whole lot of inefficiency and just plain poor governance in the expenditure of public monies. And there is the absurd imposition of the extremely rapidly increasing demand for everything, generated moremostly by record high immigration.

But there is also a huge misallocation of the wealth being generated from our resources, into the pockets of the rich and NOT into the hands of the most needy or the average citizen.

I believe that our government needs to maximise the amount of wealth that it can gain from the mining industry. It needs to find the right balance between making mining unviable or pushing companies and jobs offshore and properly reaping the rewards offered by this amazing mineral wealth.

Currently, I don’t think we are anywhere near the right balance, and that considerably more tax should be paid by our big miners.

But there is also a huge misallocation of the wealth being generated from our resources, into the pockets of the rich..
Luddy,
of the rich ..and the countless counterproductive bureaucrats within the public service.
Add it up & you'll find more money goes to them than any other.
I'm afraid that isn't what you wanted people to hear but you lot don't divulge this sort of info.

Ludwig, the miners are paying the exact amount of tax they are required to.

Now if you want a bigger share of the min eral wealth, then that's what royalties are for a d, it is not the miners fault that the royalties are too low.

The part that annoys me is this suggestion thatbthey are some sought of tax cheats.

They are simply obiding by the law.

If the law is wrong, then change it, (at your perril i might add) but don't accuse someone of doing the wrong thing when there are not.

That's what this tread is about, not whether or not they are paying appropriate taxes.

For what its worth, Just on the sharing of wealth, the mechanism is there already, it's called, buying shares in the mining companies.

But Joe average doesn't want to do that, as that also means sharing the risks

They simply want their cake and they want to eat it as well. You simply cant have a foot in one door, but not the other, otherwise you risk loosing the golden goose.

Rechtub, you’ve given me heaps to respond to in those two posts!

<< …miners are paying the exact amount of tax they are required to. >>

Well I presume this is true. So it is the tax law and hence politicians that are at fault here.

<< …if you want a bigger share of the mineral wealth, then that's what royalties are for, it is not the miners fault that the royalties are too low >>

Fine. So, could you please briefly explain just what the difference is between mining taxes and royalties?

<< …this suggestion that they are some sought of tax cheats >>

Others may be suggesting this but I’m not implying that at all.

<< If the law is wrong, then change it >>

Agreed! That’s what I want to see.

<< … buying shares in the mining companies. But Joe average doesn't want to do that, as that also means sharing the risks >>

And you can’t blame them. We’re all very much aware that the mining boom has to end sooner or later, that China may start pulling back on its demand for various Australian resources before too long, that Europe’s woes may affect Australian finances, that the price of oil could rise pretty sharply at any time, etc, etc.

The risk in the share market is very real. And I would think most people just want to be able to invest and not have to study the damn thing every day to work out whether to buy or sell, but rather to just largely let it be and look after itself.

So it is not the way to share the wealth!