NSW joins resource tax protest

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has joined WA and Qld in raising concerns about job
losses from the resource rent tax.
Ms Keneally said her government would fight to ensure the 40 per cent super-profits
levy didn't harm the state's mining industry, which includes a lucrative
coal-exporting sector.
"We want to be sure the tax as it is proposed does not have unintended negative
consequences on our economy, particularly unemployment in regional areas," she told
Sky News on Thursday.
NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal and the state's mineral resources minister, Ian
Macdonald, held private talks with federal Treasurer Wayne Swan about the tax on
Wednesday.
Rio Tinto executives met with Treasury officials in Canberra on Thursday, while BHP
Billiton tax specialists will hold similar meetings on Friday.
But the managing director of Australia's second biggest resources company, David
Peever, said the government's consultation process was too narrow.
"There is a lot of uncertainty out there, which isn't helping business confidence,"
he said in a statement.
BHP Billiton tax specialists will meet with government officials on Friday.
Outspoken West Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest said the tax was testing his
friendship with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
"Having a policy which pits me against some of the people I deeply admire is placing
me in a very difficult position," the head of Fortescue Metals told the Australian
Mines and Metals Association in Perth.
Mr Forrest said Mr Rudd would not return his calls.
But Treasurer Wayne Swan was confident he would still speak with Mr Forrest.
"Over the years, I've spoken with Mr Forrest on a number of occasions, and I've got
no doubt that I'll speak to him again at some stage in the future," he told
reporters in Melbourne.
Lihir Gold chairman Ross Garnaut - an eminent economist who recommended a resource
rent tax in the mid-1970s - said Labor's proposal was unlikely to drive investment
offshore.
"It doesn't distort any investment production decisions or trade decisions," he told
ABC Radio on Thursday.
Mining explorer Panax Geothermal is also backing the resource tax, which will fund a
new tax offset for resource exploration.
The smaller miner would be entitled to a $15 million rebate, to build a well, under
the government's tax policy.
"The mining tax will help any explorer including Panax Geothermal, if it was now in
operation, at the end of the year, we would get about a third of the cost back from
the government," company director Bertus de Graaf said.
"So, from that perspective, it's a very attractive proposition."
Any moves to change the resource rent tax plan could see benefits to smaller miners
"fall apart," he added.
Panax Geothermal on Thursday announced that drilling at its Salamander-1 geothermal
well near Penola in South Australia had produced steam.
Trade Minister Simon Crean told reporters in Shanghai that the government would not
change its mining super-profits tax, even though senior Chinese officials had
expressed concern.