Mining bosses urge Labor to end class war

The mining industry has called for Labor to end its class warfare rhetoric, stop demonising the industry and flagged “serious concerns” about further costs arising from the government’s business tax working group, the Australian Financial Review reports.

Atlas Iron chairman David Flanagan said workers who moved their families to Western Australia should be congratulated by the government rather than “ridiculed for being greedy” and the government’s attacks should be instead directed to those on social welfare.

“It is frightening how little is understood about the resources industry and how much of a short-term focus there is on focus groups, polling and the next byelection or the next election. We need visionary leaders who think beyond that and it’s up to us to drive them and tell them that they can only have our vote if they think like that and act like that,” Flanagan told a stockbrokers’ conference.

Miners hit back at PM's criticism

The mining industry has hit back at criticism from Prime Minister Julia Gillard, saying the introduction of extra taxes showed how little politicians understand resources companies, The Australian reports.

Gillard warned the mining industry in a speech yesterday that Australians wanted and deserved a share of the nation's resources boom, reminding its leaders they did not own the minerals.

The response comes as Treasury boss Martin Parkinson said he had sympathy for mining companies, because the peak of the resources boom had probably passed and the "golden bit" was over.

Gillard's comments have drawn the ire of the bosses of two Australian iron ore producers, Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron, who fear the government's attitude could leave the nation with a weaker resources sector in 15 years.

Xstrata CEO in $45.5M golden handcuffs deal

Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata and commodities titan Glencore International overnight kept the share swap ratio for their merger of equals unchanged and unveiled a plan to pay 173 million pounds ($A273.9 million) in retention awards to retain key members of Xstrata's management including Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis, The Australian reports.

In a long-awaited merger document, Xstrata reaffirmed that Glencore would exchange 2.8 new Glencore shares for every Xstrata share, thereby creating a mining juggernaut with a market value of about $US64 billion based on current share prices.

Hypocrisy call over carbon tax

The government has stepped up its assault on critics of the carbon tax by accusing many Coalition MPs of privately expanding their mining shareholdings while publicly predicting doom for the industry because of the tax, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet claimed 34 Coalition MHRs, senators or their families – about a third of the opposition parliamentary ranks – had made fresh mining investments during the past two years.

Amid uproar in question time in the House of Representatives, Combet named six MPs, including communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull, as having declared fresh mining share transactions under the parliamentary register of members' interests.