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The MRRT is still a current issue for the mining industry, and will continue to be after the election if Labor is returned to office.

I was at Diggers and Dealers in Kalgoorlie at the beginning of August and there were many comments from mining chiefs that are worth posting.

Andrew Forrest, CEO of Fortescue Metals, spoke out strongly. “We in the mining industry know how to grow the industry. We employ tens of thousands of Australia people who become PAYE taxpayers. We are better at investing our profits than anyone in Canberra.

In my last blog, written before going on leave overseas for a few weeks, I wrote that the RSPT  as proposed would mean that there could be significantly less investment in Australian mining projects.  I also suggested that if this message got through to the public and to the Government, the proposal would inevitably be modified. 

Well while I was away not only was the tax changed, but the Prime Minister too, an extraordinary outcome that still has residual shock waves. 

Interestingly the new MRRT has been greeted with a much more muted re

Being so closely involved with the mining industry, I naturally read all of the press and am across the industry briefings that outline the problems with the RSPT as proposed. 

The message from Marius Kloppers, CEO of BHP, and other mining chiefs is quite clear.  They are unhappy with the 40% rate of the proposed tax, that it applies to existing projects, the threshold of the 10 yr bond rate (around 6%) applied to the book value rather than the market value of projects,  and the lack of differentiation between commodities.  The process by which t

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