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Deal agreed on Australian mining tax

Summary

2 July 2010

The Australian government has reached a deal over a controversial mining tax.

The original proposal of a 40% tax has been reduced to 30% for coal and iron ore mining companies.

Reporter:

Nick Bryant

Report

The deal over the controversial new mining tax brings to an end one of the most angry battles between the government and corporate sector that Australia has seen. One that played out on prime time television with confrontational advertisements from both sides, and one which played a key part in the demise of the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who'd initially proposed it.

He wanted to see the resources giants pay a super-tax on their super profits, 40% was the figure he'd had in mind. But the controversial tax badly dented his government's popularity in resource-rich states like Queensland and Western Australia, and thus undermined his authority.

Kevin Rudd's successor, Julia Gillard, said that resolving the dispute was her number one priority, and she's watered down the government's proposals, dropping the headline tax rate from 40 to 30%, and applying it only to iron ore and coal.

This will lose the government revenue, but the decision has been taken on political rather than economic grounds. Julia Gillard has essentially tried to neutralize the mining tax as an election issue, in a country often called the quarry of the world, where many Australians believe their own personal prosperity is linked with the fortunes of the mining giants.

Nick Bryant, BBC News, Australia