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November 22nd, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Updated
Parliament has voted 73-71 in favour of the main bill of the Federal Government’s mining tax.
The House of Representatives has passed the Federal Government’s mining tax bills after an extended session of Parliament that stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The Government secured the final vote it needed late on Tuesday night when it struck a deal with the Greens.
The tax will apply to iron ore, coal and petroleum, but the Opposition has promised to repeal it if it wins Government.
The Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, says it is in the national interest because the revenue raised will help fund tax breaks for small business, higher superannuation and infrastructure projects.
“If we want to leave a stronger Australia for our children, if we want to build the nation, then it takes brave policy proposals like this which spread the bounty of our country to every corner of the nation,” he said.
“This is what is required to build a prosperous Australian nation in the 21st Century.”
The Senate will consider the mining tax plan early next year.
Mr Wilkie’s amendment to raise the tax threshold from $50 million to $75 million was successfully passed in a move he said would make the MRRT fairer for smaller mining companies.
“The MRRT was negotiated virtually in secret with just three mining companies – BHP (Billiton), Rio (Tinto) and Xstrata,” he told Parliament, adding the original arrangement had disadvantaged the smaller miners.
Greens negotiations
The Federal Government had negotiated late into Tuesday night to secure the Greens vote on the tax, with the sticking point being a $20 million-a-year shortfall in revenue created by the Government agreeing to Mr Wilkie’s amendment.
Greens leader Bob Brown had been insisting the Government had to raise the money from the mining sector.
There are no details of the deal yet, including how the Government will raise the money.
“We have reached agreement with the Government tonight that there will be an offsetting revenue measure that will more than account for that shortfall,” Mr Bandt said on Tuesday night.
“I’d like to tell you what that offsetting measure is, but the Government has said that they’ll make that announcement in the next couple of days.”
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told ABC’s Lateline program he would not reveal the details of the agreement.
“That’s for the Prime Minister and the Greens to announce the outcome of their discussions in due course,” he said.
“Good progress has been made because I think the Greens appreciate this is a very important tax.
“It’s about sharing the benefits of the resources boom with the whole Australian community.”
Senator Brown held talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard Tuesday afternoon but agreement was not reached until late that evening.
“We don’t want $100 million cut from schools and hospitals or child care over the forward estimates,” Senator Brown said earlier on Tuesday.
“We’ve put forward half a dozen options, but the Government has rejected these – including raising the mining tax rate from 22.5 per cent to 22.7 per cent to make up the shortfall.
“There is $1 billion in infrastructure monies tied up with spending of the mining resources tax – just 2 per cent of that would be enough to make up the shortfall which otherwise is going to have to come out of public services like schools and hospitals.”
Earlier he said that making up the shortfall was not negotiable.
“We’ve made it clear to the Government that if they’re going to secure the passage of the legislation with the Greens’ assistance they need to find that $20 million,” he said.
“We want that $20 million going to schools, going to hospitals, going to public transport, not to these wealthy mining corporations largely owned overseas.”
tax,
federal-government,
mining-industry,
australia
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