Mining bosses win – we lose
Posted by John, July 14th, 2010 - under Gillard Government, Gillard Labor, Julia Gillard, Minerals Resource Rent Tax, Mining, Mining maggots, Resource Super Profits tax.
Julia Gillard’s’ deal with the mining companies cost us, on conservative estimates, $7.5 billion in extra revenue. Rapidly increasing commodity prices will cover $6 bn of that loss.
But it gets worse.
Wayne Swan admitted today that the real revenue from the proposed Resource Super Profits Tax, based on these revised commodity prices, could have been as high as $24 billion.
Assuming his $10.5 billion estimate for revenue to be collected from the revised mining tax is accurate – I think it is an overestimate by a few billion - the Government will forgo up to almost $14 billion in revenue from the mining maggots to keep them quiet in the run up to an election.
To put this in perspective, our education spending (excluding the stimulus money) is about $28 billion. The Government gives the states over $14 billion for health care.
A denticare system providing free dental care to those hundreds of thousands of Australians in need, and rejected by Labor’s health minister as too expensive, would have cost, on her estimates, $4 billion.
We waste about $26 billion on defence spending. Add the $14 billion in mining tax given away and you get a $40 billion a year bonanza to fund desperately needed social services and spending on health, education, transport, aboriginal disadvantage, pensioners.
Imagine what could have been done to address climate change and create green jobs.
And what do we get? A complete squib to a few filthy rich mining companies.
But Gillard didn’t have the political guts to take on the mining maggots and their power and their lies. She capitulated to them, and this will be the stamp of her Government – a Labor Government that rules for sectional interests of capital.
This is possibly a historic change for the ALP which in the past has ruled for capital against the interests of particular capitalists when the needs of the system as a whole demanded it. Certainly the company tax cut was an attempt to divert super profits from one section of the bourgeoisie to the rest for the benefit of all capitalists.
With the backdown on the Resource Super Profits Tax and capitulation to a group of noisy and powerful mining companies it may be that Labor has abandoned one of its main roles in Government and truly become just a mirror of the Liberals.
In all likelihood if Labor is re-elected the 2011 Budget will be a shocker, with attacks on all areas of social spending to show the bosses the ALP does really rule for them.
$14 billion for the mining bosses, nothing for those in need; it shows you where Labor’s priorities lie and who they rule for.
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Comments
Comment from Jane
Time July 15, 2010 at 10:23 am
Those mining bosses have contributed to that re-election, no doubt… our government is bought and paid for. Those who are dependent upon the social spending will never be able to afford to buy a government.
Comment from Marco
Time July 15, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Let’s put this in simple terms:
(1) The hysterical and hypocritical reaction of a bunch of obese parasites;
(2) Their subservient stooges at the Coalition; and
(3) A gutless “Labor” Government.
Have cost each and everyone one of us $14 billion.
But this is a democracy, right? Right?
Comment from Marco
Time July 16, 2010 at 11:50 am
John,
A further comment is due here. The Australian taxpayer has been swindled, alright.
But we weren’t conned for a lack of warning. For one, you yourself warned about this. And you did this in advance and to the best of your ability.
Common people wrote in public fora explaining why the big miners were lying. Not that it wasn’t obviously a lie, either.
I bear witness that people of diverse political persuasions employed their time to explain in numerous posts in the blogosphere why the RSPT as designed was not going to throw Australia into chaos.
A group of twenty or so bourgeois economists wrote a public manifesto defending the RSPT.
And yet, a majority of the Australian public decided to swallow the tripe that the obese mining liars and their paid stooges were serving them. And this was reflected in multitude of polls.
There is a point when common people need to assume responsibility for their mistakes.
Let me be frank: one cannot blame the big miners for lying, anymore than one can blame intestinal worms for… parasitizing. This is what they both do, this is what defines them. An intestinal worm that doesn’t parasitize its host will die, sooner, rather than later. Likewise with a mining capitalist.
But it is our collective fault to believe them.
As it is the smaller miners’ fault to have kept quiet, when they knew they were among the greatest beneficiaries of the RSPT; as it is the superannuation industry’s fault to have allowed themselves to be cowed by the fat mining cockroaches.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
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Time July 15, 2010 at 1:48 am
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