Australia will draw about
$11 billion in taxes within three years from BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Rio Tinto
Group and other iron-ore and coal miners as the government seeks to turn its
budget to surplus.
Australia, the largest
shipper of steel-making is growing due to expansion of China and other emerging
economies demand for resources such as iron ore and coal.
Prime Minister Julia
Gillard’s Minerals Resource Rent Tax was passed in the upper house today and
after receiving backing from the ruling Labor party and the Greens, who hold
the balance of power in the Senate will become law on July 1.
“It’s a victory for Labor and will help the
nation’s bottom line. Most Australians probably believe the big miners can
afford to pay more tax,” said Norman Abjorensen, a political analyst at
Australian National University in Canberra.
The tax will aid the
prime minister's bid to return the budget, to be announced May 8, to surplus.
It will “help spread the benefits of the mining boom to every corner of our
economy,” Treasurer Wayne Swan wrote March 11.
Source: Bloomberg
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