Letter to the Editor
THE AGE, MAY 4:
Bryan Kavanagh, Glen Waverley
WHEN an owner leases out his or her former business as a going concern, i.e. the freehold and the business, it is not uncommon for the net profit before income tax and depreciation to be split equally between the landlord and the tenant as rent and business profit.
The 40 per cent rate accepted by the government as mining’s proposed resource rent levy seems to be within these guidelines.
For too long, mining operators have failed to accept that there is a similar relationship between themselves and the Australian people, as owners of our natural resources. As the proposed 40 per cent resource rent is chargeable only after all costs have been deducted, it can’t add to the industry’s costs. It might decrease their profits at the expense of the Australian community, but that’s another question.
The knee-jerk negative reactions from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the mining industry’s Mitch Hooke confirm that they still want to sell short the interests of all Australians. Do both men consider that mining royalties paid to state governments represent a fair return to Australians for the depletion and sale of our mineral resources? If so, they are in the wrong job. They’d more usefully be employed in a ministry for disinformation.
Bryan Kavanagh, Glen Waverley
