During the debate, Mr van Manen fought against the proposed tax labelling it as another bad tax to come out of a desperate and directionless Government who are making a habit of implementing new taxes in a bid to solve their mounting debt problems.
“The Minerals Resource Tax coupled with the carbon tax will make the mining industry in Australia one of the highest taxed mining industries in the world making it more difficult for mining companies to raise new capital,” said Mr van Manen.
“Our international competitors for the supply of iron ore to China are already on record as saying they will cut prices to erode Australia’s share market.”
“And yet our own Government is proposing to introduce a new tax that will further weaken our competitive position.”
Mr van Manen said there are long term consequences which are not being discussed in relation to the new tax, including the negative effect on share prices and company growth prospects for Australian companies.
“What will the flow on effect be to the retirement savings of Australians through their superannuation?”
“What will be the effect on the future Federal Government budgets of increased age pension liabilities due to lower retirement savings of Australians due to the unknown or unforseen consequences of the carbon tax?”