ABC 891

SUBJECTS:  Mining tax bungle; Colton preselection

E&OE................................

Hon Mark Butler MP: Good morning gentlemen and Christopher if he is there.

Presenters: Good morning Christopher Pyne.

 

Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Don’t worry Mark I’m not going anywhere.  Good morning Mark, good morning gentlemen.

Presenters: Mark Butler we’ll start with you. Does the Labor Party have the stomach for another fight with the mining industry?

Butler: Well, I’m not sure there’s going to be another fight with the mining industry.  I mean there is out there a debate about the application of the mining resources rent tax going on at the moment and those debates are really operating at two levels the first level is really a debate between us and the Liberal Party about the principle of taxing resources that are owned by Australians and being dug up and sold by large mining companies and we have a strong belief that, that should happen, we have a strong belief that the proper way to tax that as a national Government is through a profits based tax and this is something that the Liberal Party doesn’t believe. 

Presenters: Except the way you’ve structured the tax your just not getting much money from these huge multi nationals.

Butler: Well that’s right.

Presenters: That’s right $126 million.

Butler: Well the second, the second level of the debate is how that tax is applying in today’s circumstances and there are two dynamics in play.  The first is that over the last year, year and a half there’s been a very significant decline in the world prices of iron ore and coal which are the two commodities subject to this tax. 

This is not unusual for this type of tax and there’s been a tax on petroleum and off shore gas of this type since the 1980s, and it’s the most volatile tax we have in Australia. It jumps around depending on world prices.  But the second dynamic is at the same time State Governments particularly in the big regional states have been jacking up their royalties which means that those State Governments are getting the taxes instead of the national Government.  This is something we’re..

Presenters: That was always going to happen, was it not?  Because, part of the deal was that the miners would be compensated for any State royalty rises so the States will profit from the royalties from it.

Butler: That is in the deal.  That is in the legislation that governs this tax but I mean we have a strong view that the proper way to tax this is based on profits rather than the very inefficient way in which State Governments tax through royalties.

Presenters: Ok, well let’s go to Chris Pyne on this, Shadow Minister for Education, Chris Pyne.  Does this leave the cupboard bare for you?

Pyne: Well gentlemen, the issue is about trust and competence.  The Prime Minister signed a written heads of agreement with the mining companies over the mining tax.  It was a flawed tax from the beginning and everyone said so at the beginning. The Prime Minister was desperate to get a deal and so signed a very flawed agreement.  We all said it won’t collect any revenue because of the State royalties’ write-down and yet the Prime Minister went ahead with it because of complete lack of competence.  She now wants to break her agreement with the mining industry and change that agreement because of course, the agreement wasn’t worth the paper it was written on since Julia Gillard can’t be trusted to keep any promise.  The mining tax collected $126 million in its first six months operation.  It was supposed to collect $2 billion.  Now the truth is the Government is utterly incompetent, it’s booked a whole lot of spending against this money and it’s not getting the revenue.

Presenters: Christopher Pyne there might be some people who say alright the Government’s hand fisted in the way its managed this but at least they are prepared to have a go and get some money out of the miners whereas the Coalition well you just, you’ll write them a blank cheque.

Pyne: No we don’t believe, the miners pay tax.  They pay company tax and they pay all their taxes, as they should.  No one’s writing the mining industry a blank cheque, but it’s no surprise that the Government wants to get revenue out the mining industry.  They have to try and find revenue everywhere.  They’re hitting families with the carbon tax; they’re taxing our most successful industry in the mining industry, they’ve jacked up tobacco taxes, alcohol taxes, every tax imaginable.  The fees to register in the Federal Court these days have been doubled this financial year the Government is desperate for revenue because they’re spending far too much beyond our means and they’re not collecting enough revenue to meet that and therefore are borrowing against the credit card.

Presenters: And what are you going to cut and please don’t say consultants and advertising.  What are you going to cut?

Pyne: Well first of all, we’re going to cut the mining tax because it’s a completely flawed tax and that’s been proven on Friday last week.  We’re going to abolish the carbon tax.  And you know both of those, the abolition of both of those will actually be savings to the Budget because they are collecting so little tax. 

This morning we have reports that the carbon tax is a $4 billion black hole in revenue so this group could not manage a local school budget the absurdity is they handle there budgets better.

Presenters: Wasn’t it only a few months ago these were the big fat taxes well they actually ended up not being that fat at all?

Pyne: But the problem you’ve got now is they’ve booked a whole lot of expenditure against these taxes and they are not getting the money, which means families will be taxed in other ways for the Government to actually make these expenditures so the poor old families are going to be hit, yet again.  They’re hit in all directions, either the Government borrows more money or the Government taxes them more.

Butler: The extent of the Liberal Party fiscal policy from that is a big tax break for the three biggest miners in the company and a big tax break for the three hundred biggest polluters..

Pyne: What’s the biggest tax break?

Butler:..and that’s it.  That’s the extent of Liberal Party plans.

Pyne: $126 million tax break.  You think the miners are going to be opening champagne because they get a $126 million tax break? I mean last MYEFO which was last October, Wayne Swan said this tax was going to collect $9 billion.  It’s collected $126 million! They are a group of complete incompetents.

Presenters: Now Chris Pyne, I noticed a story by Michael Owen today that you, a Coalition power broker have been accused of acting unfairly to benefit a candidate who won preselection in an Adelaide seat.  There’s an appeal by Jasmine Wood disputing the integrity of pre-selection for the seat of Colton after your man Joe Barry, won the battle, with a late run.  He was a Party vice-president or is the Party’s vice-president. 

Pyne: Well look, it’s always disappointing for candidates when they lose preselections and sometimes they become quite disgruntled.

Presenters: Especially if they feel they’ve been dudded.

Pyne: Well I mean, most people who lose preselections think they’ve been dudded unless they’ve been determined by Don Farrell and Mark Butler in smoky clouded rooms in the back of the Labor Party.  But I’ve got absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Colton preselection so it’s a complete mystery to me.

Presenters: But Mr Barry was a Party’s vice-president, or is.

Pyne: Well there’s four vice-presidents and I’m on the State Executive.

Presenters: Yeah.  You didn’t know he was running?

Pyne: Of course, but I wasn’t even on the Colton pre-selection.  Unfortunately, when people lose preselections sometimes they get very disgruntled.  When I defeated Ian Wilson 21 years ago he lodged two appeals against my election but this is what the Appeals Tribunal is for.  They’ll make a decision, they’ll make a determination, but it’s a complete mystery to me.

Presenters: Mark Butler just quickly.

Butler: Well just, in spite of Christopher’s references to me in “smoke filled rooms” I have had nothing to do with State preselections for all the time that I’ve been a federal MP.  It’s just beggar’s belief to me why someone who wants to be a Minister in a Federal Government worries about the minutiae of State preselections.

Pyne: Well, I’m not.

Butler:  … to the extent that Christopher seems to. 

Pyne: Well, I’ve got nothing to do with the Colton preselection, zero, but I can’t be responsible for what other people put in writing and send to people.  It’s nothing to do with me at all.  I’m as innocent as a rose.

Presenters: You’re what?

Pyne: I’m as innocent as a rose.

Presenters: You’re as innocent as a rose?

Pyne: I’ve got nothing to do with it.

Presenters: No, no, no, no.

Presenters: Christopher Pyne.

Pyne: Nothing to see here.

Presenters: Move on, move on.

Butler: He can protest a little louder than that.

Presenters: Do you think so?

Pyne: I’ve got nothing to do with it.

Presenters: It wasn’t me.  What were you laughing for? It wasn’t me.

Pyne: I’m very happy over here in the eastern suburbs looking after Sturt and doing my bit for my electors.  I’m not in the least bit interested in what is going on in Colton, I can assure you.

Presenters: Really? You don’t care about them?

Pyne: Well I’m talking about being a local Member of Parliament in Sturt.  The Colton Liberal preselection has got nothing to do with me.

Presenters: Alright, Chris Pyne.  Thankyou Christopher Pyne and Mark Butler.

ENDS