Mine tax issue not resolved, says Abbott

The federal government is desperately trying to pretend it has resolved the
resources tax issue when it has not, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.
Labor realised the mining tax had done it enormous damage around Australia, Mr
Abbott told reporters in Perth on Sunday.
"I think the mining tax more than anything else has crystallised people's doubts
about whether Labor can be trusted with the economy," Mr Abbott said.
"They are desperately trying to pretend that the issue has been resolved. It has not
been resolved.
"Even though this government has changed the tax, it's still a great big bad tax and
you can't trust Labor not to change it again and make it even worse if they're
re-elected."
Mr Abbott said he was certain West Australian Premier Colin Barnett had strong legal
advice to back his concern that the new minerals resource rent tax was
unconstitutional and would be tested in court.
"It is entirely appropriate for the premier to do whatever is necessary to protect
Western Australia's economy," Mr Abbott said.
"But in the end the best way to stop the tax is to change the government."
Mr Abbott repeated his concerns about the figures behind the new tax.
"I'm not accusing the government of cooking the books but I've got to say that these
figures are very fishy.
"How is it that they can raise the threshold, lower the rate and reduce the
incidence and still raise almost as much money?"
Mr Abbott called on the government to release all the figures and all the modelling
for the old tax and the new tax to resolve the question.