Mining executive Professor Clive Palmer has slammed Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan for imposing a mining tax that has failed to raise revenue and only managed to kill investment in Australia’s resources sector. Professor Palmer said the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) has so far in 2012-13 not raised a cent and has highlighted the damage the government has caused to the nation’s economy for zero gain.
“The MRRT has killed investment in Australian mining and it has also destroyed Australia’s role in mining exploration for future generations,” Palmer said. “Nobody is to blame other than Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard. They have stuck their heads in the sand while the people of this country suffer because of an incompetent tax that at the end of the day raises no money. At least the Australian people will be able to throw them out of office at the next federal election.”
Professor Palmer said the future of Australia’s export trade, as well as the future of many Australian families, would be in jeopardy while the MRRT remains. “The MRRT highlights how this government and the treasury is out of touch,” he said. “The Gillard government conspired with foreign-owned companies and didn’t consult with someone such as myself as the head of one of the biggest Australian mining groups. They only wanted answers that would suit them. This debacle also highlights how academic the treasury is—they’ve been run in theory rather than reality.”
