Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

A mining boom unlike all other booms?

By Sarah Burnside - posted Monday, 1 October 2012


The government invoked the report to argue that under the Coalition the country had effectively "been paying to be exploited" by multinational mining companies, and during the 1974 election campaign Whitlam declared that Fitzgerald's findings would be "the starting point for the formulation of policies aimed at maximising the return to Australia of her natural endowments of mineral and energy wealth". In turn, Coalition spokespeople criticised Fitzgerald's methodology, characterised his Report as "limited" and "emotive" and argued that the benefits the nation had gained from the boom outweighed the costs.

Labor narrowly won the 1974 election and amended the tax scheme for resource companies: it cancelled the exemptions for prescribed minerals (although it left the gold exemption in place); disallowed deductions for capital expenditure incurred on company formation and capital raising; and prevented companies from appropriating out of one year's income sums intended to be spent on development the following year. The Coalition opposed these changes, arguing that they would cruel the mining industry's future development in Australia and lamenting that "the management of our mineral and energy resources has made us the laughing stock of the world".

After the Whitlam government's dismissal and election loss in 1975, the Coalition returned to power under Malcolm Fraser, and in 1976 it passed its own tax amendments: for instance, capital expenditure on facilities used to transport minerals was made deductible on a straight-line basis over either 20 years as previously or 10 years, at the taxpayer's discretion, and expenditure on port facilities was included in the category of capital expenditure attracting special deduction provisions. Fraser later concluded that his government "provided much better tax breaks for business to encourage investment" and "modified taxation for mining".

Advertisement

Australia's brief and turbulent experiment in "resource nationalism" seemed to be over - the traditional pro-mining, low taxing approach had been challenged but not overturned.

Moreover, these events seem largely to have been forgotten. They have been overshadowed by other ideological battles of the Whitlam era and the circumstances surrounding the Dismissal, including Connor's role in the 1975 loans affair. Even the recent and ongoing mining tax debates have seen only a few references to the Fitzgerald Report: The Australian reported that "Rudd's resource tax grab" evoked the "feisty" Rex Connor; ABC Radio National's Rear Vision program covered parallels and differences between the two governments' approaches to minerals and energy in a rather more considered fashion, and David McKnight pointed out that struggles over the mining tax followed a familiar pattern.

The Fitzgerald Report and its fate show that the hoariest of clichés can be true - history really does repeat itself. There have been a great many changes in the Australian political scene since 1974, but some things, such as the difficulties governments face in setting taxes for the resources sector, remain the same.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

This article has also been published in New Matilda here.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

7 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Sarah Burnside is a freelance writer with experience in law and policy. She tweets cautiously at @SarahEBurnside.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Sarah Burnside

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 7 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy