Antinuclear

Uranium mining exempted from Resources tax, Ferguson fixes it.

Tax deal lifts cloud over miners, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 july 2010, Australia’s biggest miners face paying more tax, but not nearly as much as feared, after winning big concessions from the federal government….

Most importantly, the new tax will not affect BHP Billiton’s $23 billion plan to expand the massive Olympic Dam mine, the world’s biggest uranium deposit  ….
Having signed off on the resource rent deal, only one major uncertainty remains for the miners. Will this new tax be approved by Australia’s Senate following an election expected in the next few months?

The Greens are likely to hold the balance of power in the Sentate following the election. Greens leader Bob Brown has said they would oppose the tax if it is watered down too much. If so, the tax could be defeated in the Senate, with the Greens teaming up with the conservative Coalition, which has said it would scrap a new tax on miners.

A dead tax would be ideal for the miners, but only as long as Ms Gillard has guaranteed that she will not come back with a tougher proposal to satisfy the Greens.

Tax deal lifts cloud over miners | Mining tax | MRRT

July 2, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, uranium | antinuclear, Australia, BHP, BHP Billiton, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium