❓ Mr. Wyatt questions the Treasurer about discussions with iron ore miners regarding the 25c production levy. The Treasurer confirms discussions with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, but no concrete agreements have been reached.
AnsweredQoN 757Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
IRON ORE
MINING — PRODUCTION LEVY
757. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
I refer to the government's
proposal to have the major iron ore miners buy out the 25c production levy
contained in the state agreement acts.
(1) Who exactly
has the Treasurer been discussing the proposal with?
(2) What are the
proposed terms that the government has put to the affected miners?
MINING — PRODUCTION LEVY
757. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
I refer to the government's
proposal to have the major iron ore miners buy out the 25c production levy
contained in the state agreement acts.
(1) Who exactly
has the Treasurer been discussing the proposal with?
(2) What are the
proposed terms that the government has put to the affected miners?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Thanks
for the question. There is a bit of history on this. We are attacking it in two
ways. The user charge has a long, distorted history. When it was first put in
back in the 1960s for the various projects that are now over 50 years old, it
was actually not a royalty; it was basically a land use charge. It has
subsequently been treated as a royalty and we are having discussions with the
ABS and whatnot to treat it as a land use charge rather than a royalty. In the
last decade, we have been of course redistributing them back to the other
states. We are trying to amend that redistribution. We are having some debates
with the ABS.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : ABS is?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : The Australian Bureau of Statistics. We are defining what is an
accounting treatment. I thought the member understood that.
On the other issues, we are having
discussions with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto at various levels, from the top —
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Who?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : I am not going to give names—from the top to the
mid-range. We have put some ideas to them. We are still having discussions with
them and we are going to continue with them. Nothing concrete has been
negotiated yet and we will see how we go.
for the question. There is a bit of history on this. We are attacking it in two
ways. The user charge has a long, distorted history. When it was first put in
back in the 1960s for the various projects that are now over 50 years old, it
was actually not a royalty; it was basically a land use charge. It has
subsequently been treated as a royalty and we are having discussions with the
ABS and whatnot to treat it as a land use charge rather than a royalty. In the
last decade, we have been of course redistributing them back to the other
states. We are trying to amend that redistribution. We are having some debates
with the ABS.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : ABS is?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : The Australian Bureau of Statistics. We are defining what is an
accounting treatment. I thought the member understood that.
On the other issues, we are having
discussions with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto at various levels, from the top —
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Who?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : I am not going to give names—from the top to the
mid-range. We have put some ideas to them. We are still having discussions with
them and we are going to continue with them. Nothing concrete has been
negotiated yet and we will see how we go.
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