Doorstop Interview, Minerals Council 

QUESTION:

Are you seeing any signs of progress in the mining industry's attitude to the resources tax?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

Look, the industry has been engaged in a consultation process. Some parts of the minerals and petroleum industry have been more seriously engaged than others but I think we've reached a point by which all appreciate, especially those who are not only concerned about their own company interest but also the national interest, and accept the need to get more seriously involved in discussions with a view to resolving some of these outstanding issues.

QUESTION:

It seems quite conciliatory in there. Yesterday you were treating the miners as trying to thug the national interest. What's going on? Why are you playing this hardball, good cop, bad cop routine?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

The Australian Government's position is clear. We are going to put in place tax reform, ensuring the ongoing viability of the petroleum and resources sector in Australia but also paying proper attention to the needs of the nation and we're simply not going to be intimidated into backing away from that objective. It is a twin objective. We've been through these disputes in the past, we'll get through them and then life will go on.

QUESTION:

Talking all elements being on the table in there, are all elements on the table or is the 40 per cent…

MINISTER FERGUSON:

The Prime Minister made it clear yesterday, at the media conference, that we're open to generous transitional arrangements but the headline rate of 40 per cent is not negotiable. It's not new to industry.

You know, I was part of the Gorgon investment, tax rate of 40 per cent, the biggest ever single investment project in Australia worth $43 billion, a life of 30 to 40 years, bringing huge benefits to Australia. The issue is the transitional arrangements and both the Prime Minister and I and the Treasurer have said time and time again, we're about sitting down and going through the detail and working out those transitional arrangements and the sooner we get on with that job, rather than the grandstanding in the media, the better.

QUESTION:

How do you fund those transitional arrangements, through the windfall of the Resource Super Profits Tax?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

It's not a question of going through those details and talking to the industry through the media. I've never operated in that way in the past, and I’m not going to operate that way in the future.

I am meeting with a variety of companies on a regular basis. Perhaps more importantly, the consultation committee has presented its first report to government. Clearly we are assessing the material in that report and at the appropriate time we'll make decisions and announce the outcome of those deliberations.

QUESTION:

You talk about grandstanding but aren't miners just a convenient bogeyman like banks or some other baddies?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

I think the record shows that, you know, over the last decade this industry's had a pretty good time. Just go and have a look at the jump in commodity prices.

Amongst many in the industry there is an appreciation that they should have been paying more tax. The debate is about the size of the take and the nature of the tax system.

Those who are prepared to front up to their responsibilities have already moved past that point. The resources sector has the capacity to pull its weight and in some ways to take the burden of growth off the broader community and my tourism responsibilities are a prime example of that.

How can a tourism operator compete with the resources sector, with a base rate of $150,000 per annum? They're the issues that I've got to confront, they're the issues that the nation has to confront. Just go through Perth on a regular basis, as I do, and you see it first-hand.

QUESTION:

The Prime Minister said yesterday that this will be a long fight, it will be a protracted fight. Investors hate long term uncertainty. I mean, do you think that it's going to damage investment if this drags on too long?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

The Government doesn't want to drag it out. That consultation time will be determined by how constructive the negotiations are.

The sooner we get more companies engaged - and some have been terrific - in seriously trying to reach a resolution of these difficulties, the better for industry, the better for Australia.

QUESTION:

Can you comment on the Queensland coal companies' bid for QR. What do you think of that? Do you think the Bligh Government should be taking it a little more seriously? It’s said that it's pushing ahead with the IPO.

MINISTER FERGUSON:

Look, the Queensland Government's got a bid before it. I welcome that bid. I've been supportive of it from day one because frankly both industry and government have got something to be accountable for.

You know, can I also say I think we'll get through this but the fact that the major coal companies in Queensland have put a bid on the table of $4.85 billion, a bit of premium in that compared to other options, in my opinion, plus potentially looking at a few more billion in a three to five year time span to upgrade and expand the track, says something about the fact that they're committed to Australia for the long haul.

QUESTION:

Minister, can you please comment on the KPMG study that the Minerals Council's put out saying that gold, copper and nickel mines become unviable? Do you concede that investment will move offshore?

MINISTER FERGUSON:

I've looked at the variety of reports out there and, you know, I can’t start going into details about assumptions in modelling, et cetera. I just say, well, fair enough, they produced a report. I hope they forward it to the consultation committee. It could inform the debate. It may enable us to consider a variety of issues. So be it. There'll be more and more reports like this as the days go on and also I suggest to you that as night follows day there'll be another story tomorrow about doom and gloom, and one on Saturday and one on Sunday. It will be good for reporting for you. The Government's just going to concentrate on working out the detail and getting it right.

Thank you.