Rejection of Senate changes to the MRRT spending package kept the tax and its associated budget in place, drawing criticism from opponents of the impost in both industry and government.
“Labor voted to keep every dollar of unfunded spending linked to the mining tax and then voted to keep the failed tax,” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said in a joint statement with Treasurer Joe Hockey.
“The government will not accept amendments which support these unfunded spending measures remaining in place.
“By voting to keep many of the associated spending measures, senators have effectively voted to keep the mining tax.”
Corman noted that of the $A12 billion that was supposed to be raised by the MRRT in its first two years, only $300 million, or about 3%, had been realised.
This was put in the context of a budget with $17 billion in expenditures underpinned by forward estimates for MRRT proceeds.
The expenditures include popular compensations for families, superannuation amendments and a schoolkids bonus.
“You can’t get rid of the tax responsibly without also getting rid of the spending,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott was quoted as saying on ABC radio.
“We wore the opprobrium and unpopularity of saying that the schoolkids bonus would go because it was a cash splash with borrowed money.”
The Association of Mining & Exploration Companies responded by citing PwC research ranking Australia’s overall tax rating at 133 out of 188 countries, with a total effective tax rate of 47.7%.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Senate has again blocked the repeal of the mining tax,” AMEC chief executive Simon Bennison said.
“The government has indicated that the mining tax is costing more than it’s raising. It therefore seems totally illogical to hang initiatives off the MRRT.”
Stalling of the repeal effort for the MRRT follows immediately on the scrapping last week of the carbon tax.
Abbott hailed the abolition as relief from a $9 billion-a-year hit on the national economy while industry emphasised the move as the first step towards recovering international competitiveness for Australia as an investment destination.
Following the latest impasse in striking down the MRRT, Bennison called for a renewed sense of urgency.
“Combined with the removal of the carbon tax, the repeal of the MRRT will go a long way to restoring confidence and critical investment back into the mining industry,” he said.
“This is essential to grow the mining and exploration industry to provide economic growth in Australia and support government revenue streams.”
