The big mining companies in Australia have been expressing their approval of the government's cut in the proposed Resources Super Profits Tax. The new compromise tax has been redesigned and renamed under Prime Minster Julia Gillard to be rendered acceptable to the mining industry 'giants'.
The federal government's announcement of the Mineral Resource Rent Tax as it is being called now, has been met with approval by BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata. All of them were actively involved in the anti mining tax campaign which led to the departure of previous prime minster Kevin Rudd.
The reduction of the mining tax to 30% from the earlier proposed 40% has been termed as encouraging by BHP Billiton. Chief Executive Marius Kloppers feels there is still a lot of work to be done, but the international competitiveness of the Australian resources industry will not be compromised in the future.
David Peever, managing director of Rio Tinto Australia found the announcement of the government an important step towards tax reforms which would help Australia's iinternational competitiveness as an investment destination.