Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

To coin a very well-known phrase: ‘Tell ‘em they’re dreaming.’ If those on the other side actually believe that this tax is in any way going to increase production in this country they are living in la-la land, quite literally. Their pattern of failure—their failure to think things through, their failure of judgment, their failure to consult and their failure to follow any sort of process whatsoever—is now creating real damage to Australians and to the Australian economy. This is more apparent than ever after listening to the speeches of those on the other side on this very important issue in this matter of public importance debate. This tax is nothing more and nothing less than a triple whammy on the Australian people. It is a tax on the half a million Australians whose jobs depend either directly or indirectly on the mining industry. Yes, that is right, the mining industry is actually a huge employer in this country. Industry creates jobs. Governments, and in particular Labor governments, do not create jobs; they destroy jobs. This is a tax on the millions of Australian retirees whose incomes are drawn from the shares and dividends that the mining companies pay. It is a triple whammy because it is a tax that will hit the back pockets of Australian families. It is going to impact on their budgets. You cannot raise the price of oil and gas, building materials and fertiliser, which is exactly what this tax is going to do, without having a flow-on effect on the price that Australian families are going to pay for essential items.

You will recall that the Henry tax review, a review that we all waited with bated breath for, had 138 recommendations. But Mr Rudd, the Prime Minister of this country is a weak and insipid leader and did not have the guts to undertake full-bodied tax reform in this country. So what did he do? He woke up one morning and said: ‘That is it, I’m going to go for the blatant tax grab. What will I impose? I will impose a resource super profits tax.’ He chose this over genuine taxation reform. That would hardly be surprising to the Australian people because it is so typical of a Labor government. Rudd Labor have no other way than to rob the mining industry blind to pay off the debt that they are incurring in this country.

The problem with Mr Rudd is this: he is at great pains to tell Australians that what the big mining companies are saying about the impact of this tax should be taken with a grain of salt, but he fails to understand that it is not just the big mining companies that are telling us they have real problems with this tax. What Mr Rudd fails to understand is that, while he talks tough about targeting Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the small businesses, the family quarry operators—and we all know them; we have all got them in our home states—are the ones that are really going to feel the impact of this tax. These businesses operate across Australia. They produce sand, gravel, road base, lime and phosphate. And guess what? All of those materials are crucial inputs to housing and construction and agriculture in Australia. So guess what? If you tax those products, those companies will have to pass the tax on to the consumer, and mums and dads in Australia will actually end up paying more and there will be an increase in the cost of living.

I would like to put to bed a myth the Labor Party consistently raises, which is that Treasury Secretary Ken Henry, in his recommendations, said these small companies should be taxed. Well, he did not. Mr Henry did not recommend the taxing of low-value commodities. There is actually a table in his report, table C1.1, that lists resources that may merit exemption from the resource tax. It was not Mr Henry’s recommendation that the Labor Party go down this path. If this tax does go through, when it hits the local quarries—and it will—it will ultimately hit the hip pockets of mums and dads in Australia. Why? Because local quarries produce clay, gravel, monumental stone, gypsum, limestone, cement and plaster, and all of those products are used to build the great Australian dream—that is, your own home. Local quarries have made it very clear that they will have a choice if this tax goes through. They can either pass the additional cost on to the consumer or, alternatively, they can close down their businesses. The choice is a very simple one. They are not going to close down their businesses, so these costs will be passed through to the mums and dads of Australia.

Merrill Lynch, one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, came out with a report today. They have done some numbers. And guess what? They say the supertax will quite literally ‘hit home’. Merrill Lynch estimate that it will add no less than $800 to the price of the concrete used in an average home costing approximately $500,000. And there have been other estimates that the tax will add no less than $20,000 to the price of a new home. That is a consequence of imposing this tax on small quarries. It will reach into every Australian household through higher power bills, higher gas bills and higher prices for bricks and mortar and gravel. These very basic commodities will all be affected by this tax.

What if the tax were to hit phosphate mining? The logical effect is that the price of fertiliser would go up. What does that mean for Mr Rudd’s working families, whom he keeps telling us he strives so hard to defend? It is bad news, Mr Rudd. Guess what? Your tax will mean that the price of food will go up. That is right—under Rudd Labor’s tax the mums and dads of Australia will be paying more for food. Ultimately this tax, if placed on mining quarries, will flow through to the people of Australia. The bottom line is this: if you are a young person or a mum or dad and you are thinking about going out and purchasing a new home, if you want to fulfil the great Australian dream, if this government is re-elected and this tax goes through forget about the Australian dream because it is quite possible that you will not be able to afford it. That is the end result of an ill-thought-out concept.

The bottom line is this: what we have in Australia today is a big-spending government and this mining tax is designed to do nothing more and nothing less than satiate their out-of-control spending. To implement what is nothing more than a blatant tax grab which will have devastating effects on our economy—in particular, our quarries—is economic lunacy. This tax is economic vandalism and economic lunacy from a Labor government that does not have a clue about economic management in Australia.