TORONTO, June 26 (Reuters) - Australia plans to work with the mining industry to resolve a dispute over its mining tax proposal as soon as possible, Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said on Saturday.
Global miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto contend that a planned 40 percent 'super profits' tax will damage the resource-dependent economy which underpinned Australia through the global financial crisis.
'We will now go and talk to the industry in good faith about the design of the tax ... We have got a fresh start in those discussions and we hope we can conclude them as promptly as possible,' said Swan, who is in Toronto attending the G20 summit on behalf of newly chosen Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The Australian Labor government appointed Gillard as prime minister on Thursday, fearing defeat at elections later this year as voters deserted incumbent Kevin Rudd over his handling of the tax row and a failed climate policy.
'The Prime Minister has indicated very clearly that she was opening the door to negotiations and asked that the mining companies opened their minds. As a consequence of that we have suspended the advertising we have on television and the mining companies have suspended theirs,' he said.
Swan noted that Australia will be the first among the developed nations to return to a surplus by 2013 and stressed that any changes to the mining tax proposal would not impact this plan.
The Australian government's forward budget estimates envisage A$12 billion in revenue from mining-tax related revenues in coming years and miners have called on the government to remove this income from its budget estimates as a 'sign of good faith' that it was genuine in its desire to resolve the tax row.
'We said on day one, when we announced the proposal that we would sit down and talk to the industry about generous transitional arrangements and talk with the industry about the design. And that is what we will do,' said Swan, adding that the government was not going to use 'megaphone diplomacy' to resolve the issue.
(Reporting by Euan Rocha; editing by David Storey) Keywords: G20/AUSTRALIA/MININGTAX (euan.rocha@thomsonreuters.com; +1 416 941 8185; Reuters Messaging: euan.rocha.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Global miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto contend that a planned 40 percent 'super profits' tax will damage the resource-dependent economy which underpinned Australia through the global financial crisis.
'We will now go and talk to the industry in good faith about the design of the tax ... We have got a fresh start in those discussions and we hope we can conclude them as promptly as possible,' said Swan, who is in Toronto attending the G20 summit on behalf of newly chosen Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The Australian Labor government appointed Gillard as prime minister on Thursday, fearing defeat at elections later this year as voters deserted incumbent Kevin Rudd over his handling of the tax row and a failed climate policy.
'The Prime Minister has indicated very clearly that she was opening the door to negotiations and asked that the mining companies opened their minds. As a consequence of that we have suspended the advertising we have on television and the mining companies have suspended theirs,' he said.
Swan noted that Australia will be the first among the developed nations to return to a surplus by 2013 and stressed that any changes to the mining tax proposal would not impact this plan.
The Australian government's forward budget estimates envisage A$12 billion in revenue from mining-tax related revenues in coming years and miners have called on the government to remove this income from its budget estimates as a 'sign of good faith' that it was genuine in its desire to resolve the tax row.
'We said on day one, when we announced the proposal that we would sit down and talk to the industry about generous transitional arrangements and talk with the industry about the design. And that is what we will do,' said Swan, adding that the government was not going to use 'megaphone diplomacy' to resolve the issue.
(Reporting by Euan Rocha; editing by David Storey) Keywords: G20/AUSTRALIA/MININGTAX (euan.rocha@thomsonreuters.com; +1 416 941 8185; Reuters Messaging: euan.rocha.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.