PERTH – Western Australia’s Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) would travel to Canberra next week to directly raise policy priorities with the new minority government, led by Julia Gillard.
Gillard was on Tuesday handed guardianship of Australia, after two independent members of parliament – Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott –backed the Labor party. This, along with the backing from the Greens party, ensured Labor a minority win.
The federal government had been in caretaker mode since the August 21 federal elections delivered inconclusive results.
CME CEO Reg Howard-Smith on Tuesday congratulated Gillard, but said that the mining industry had suffered in recent months from the uncertainty created by the proposed resources rent tax.
“Maintaining our industry’s international competitiveness will be critical in ensuring continued investment,” Howard-Smith said.
The CME would seek “urgent” clarification on the status of the proposed minerals resources rent tax (MRRT), and Howard-Smith said that the industry was also seeking an assurance that member companies and sector jobs would be protected from the adverse impact of the Greens policy.
“Green support for a nationwide uranium mining ban and increasing the rate of the resource rent tax would have dire consequences for the industry,” Howard-Smith said.
The Greens were also opposed to establishing new coal mines, or expanding existing coal operations.
The CME noted that with the majority of the revenue of the new MRRT, which targets iron-ore and coal, would come from Western Australia-based projects, it was also vital that the state received its fair share of federal infrastructure funding.
“The state-based Royalties for Regions programme will see just under A$900-million pumped back into regional communities in the current financial year,” Howard-Smith added.
“It is crucial that the federal government also takes greater responsibility in helping fund the service and infrastructure for areas from where these resources are extracted.”
Other areas of focus for CME would also include the strengthening of skilled migration programmes and targeted investment in skills and training opportunities, as well as the removal of duplication processes and regulatory authorities.
Source:miningweekly