Dishonest debates are crippling urgent structural reform.
THE annual rich list shows just why last June's protest rally led by Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest against a new federal mining tax looked ludicrous. Ranked No.1 and 3, the mining magnates' estimated wealth greatly exceeds any extra tax take from coal and iron ore profits in budget estimates. More seriously, this points to imbalances in budget revenues and between states.
Ms Rinehart's $10.3 billion fortune is almost as much as the budgeted revenue of $11.1 billion in three years after the tax takes effect from July 2012. Four of the top five in BRW's Rich 200 list made their $30 billion from resources, mainly coal and iron ore, to which the tax is now limited - slashing the first two years' revenue from $12 billion to $7.7 billion. The difference in the impact of the mining boom on individual fortunes and federal revenue is startling.
The worth of the three most outspoken tax critics, Ms Rinehart, Mr Forrest and Clive Palmer (fifth on the list), jumped by $8.62 billion, or 67 per cent in a year, to $21.53 billion. Treasurer Wayne Swan budgeted for an extra $8.27 billion, up 12 per cent from a year ago, from all company and resource taxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment