Tinkler's financial situation takes toll on Whitehaven Coal

Whitehaven Coal continues to suffer from speculation over the financial stability of its largest shareholder, Nathan Tinkler, with the latest share price hit coming after he announced the sale of his horse-racing empire, according to The Australian.

The slump in the coal miner's shares yesterday was also on the back of the continued negative market sentiment on resources stocks, which saw a list of strong-performing companies take a dive on the Australian market.

Mining ads warn of tax risk

The Minerals Council of Australia will launch a pre-emptive strike on the federal government with a new advertising campaign that warns Labor against raising taxes on the resources sector, according to the Australian Financial Review.

A new television commercial, which will run on free-to-air and pay TV from Wednesday, highlights the industry’s tax and royalty contribution to state and federal coffers, and urges Labor to “keep mining strong”

The mining sector is concerned Labor might make changes to the tax system in the May budget, including to the thin capitalisation debt gearing rules, the Fuel Tax Credit scheme for mining, and the deductability of exploration expenses.

The ad warns that “promises will be flying everywhere, but how are they gonna be paid for?”

BHP hits back in mining tax fight

BHP Billiton has hit back at claims that the failure of the mining tax to hit its revenue targets is because of a design flaw. It has declaring it inherently volatile, and susceptible to commodity price movements and cost pressures, according to The Australian.

The chief executives of BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata negotiated crucial changes to the minerals resource rent tax, including being able to use the market value of their assets to create their starting base to pay the tax, which will mitigate it in its early years.