Thursday 28th of March 2024

killing the goose .....

killing the goose .....

from Crikey .....

Don't look at what the miners say, look at what they do

Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane write:

QUEENSLAND COAL, RSPT

This announcement from today puts all the claims from the mining industry and its media, lobbyist and political mates that the proposed resources profits tax has caused a "capital strike", damaged Australia's reputation and will make it harder to finance projects in this country in sharp relief.

The Queensland coal industry, led by BHP Billiton and Xstrata - two of the loudest opponents of the proposed tax - are bidding $4.85 billion for the Queensland Government rail network in the coal producing areas of the state. The Queensland Government is flogging the Queensland Rail coal track network via a public float, but the coal industry wants control so it can duplicate its control of the rail assets that BHP and Rio are maintaining in their iron ore businesses in Western Australia.

Today's announcement quotes the chairman of the industry group, former NSW Liberal Premier, Nick Greiner, who joins two other former Liberal leaders, John Hewson and John Brogden, in giving the lie to the "kill the golden goose" line.

Greiner says in the statement "the fully funded offer represents a substantial premium to what is likely to be achieved under the Queensland Government's proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO), or realised in recent comparable transactions.

Importantly, our offer is able to be settled with the Government prior to the IPO and will not be dependent on volatile equity markets, removing major risk for the State while also providing early settlement." (our italics)

Greiner goes on "...we have considered the alternative model under the IPO and associated regulation and legislation and strongly believe it does not represent an optimal or even reasonable basis for assuring the future of the State's major export industry. The QCIRG offer has four goals: to encourage fair and open access, optimise network performance, enable early system expansions, and encourage rail haulage competition, all with flow-on benefits through enhanced investment, employment and royalties. The members of QCIRG are committed to expanding the network to support future growth and in addition to the offer, QCIRG has established a facility to fund the current QR capital plan and also further rail capacity growth."

Apart from the rosy future, what's the significance of Greiner's statement? Big deals like this require big finance.

So which banks haven't been scared off stumping up new money for Australian resource infrastructure deals like this proposed offer?

Well, let's see: locals ANZ are there. BNP Paribas, one of Europe's biggest banks, is there as well. Citibank is there too, the US bank still part owned by the American Government. Not only are the three underwriting the proposed purchase to the tune of $1.35 billion, but they will finance a maintenance and capex facility totalling "in excess of $2.05 billion".

That's a real vote of confidence that the money will come rolling in from higher coal exports.

And which company is a member of the industry group? Why Rio Tinto, whose CEO, American Tom Albanese only yesterday claimed the proposed tax raised questions about sovereign risk in Australia. In fact, every one of the companies involved have either criticised the proposed tax or they have supported the various industry groups and political commentaries bagging it: Anglo American Metallurgical Coal, BHP Billiton, Ensham Resources, Felix Resources, Jellinbah Resources, Macarthur Coal, Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto Coal, Vale Australia, Wesfarmers Resources and Xstrata Coal. The statement says all have "signed equity Subscription Agreements. Aquila Resources and New Hope Coal Australia are supporting parties and "have the opportunity to provide equity at a later stage."

All these companies are entitled to their views on the tax (and should try and get the best deal for themselves and their shareholders), but this proposed purchase exposes the hypocrisy underlying their reaction: if they really felt Australia was no longer a place where investment could be made, they simply would not be in this deal. End of story.

Then again it's not just the miners.

A Crikey tipster has pointed out that Colin Barnett (who has just jacked up mining royalties) has announced that the Mid West WA Oakajee port development is under threat due to the RSPT. Only problem is, the RSPT will have negligible on mid-west iron ore miners as their product is low grade and will requires processing downstream before being exported.

The Multi-National Corporation's War against Australia.

Without doubt, I have never before had the pleasure of access to the wealth of information provided by this forum.  The variety is vast and the intelligent posts are encouraging for Australia's future.  Besides - Gus's sense of humor does my heart good.

I have always been an advocate of the K.I.S.S. principle because the semantics of some of our politicians and most of the foreign owned media just annoys me.  Why don’t they get to the point if their objective happens to be a supportable argument?

IMHO, the media does intentionally influence and – in fact - cause the election or destruction of any government which does not meet their strict instructions for the benefit of their Corporations. Since the Industrial Revolution in England, mid and lower workers in the world have tried to gain a fair go – and each time they do, the Corporations have financially crushed them.  

Then, not necessarily different in principle, the Corporations caused a war of stupidity in 1914 and forced by law, their workers to suffer the enormous losses of that unnecessary conflict. 

And America profits – but not England.  Same again in 1939.

This article by Glenn Dwyer and Bernard Keane is so informative that as a very old and respected American Senator Byrd would say – “I weep for my country”.

I agree with Malcolm Fraser in his choice to resign from a party of which he has been a member for 50 years.  He says that they are not the same Party as the one he once led.  I concur.

Mr. Fraser was involved in an historic abandonment of democracy in 1975, but it is safe for me to say that while I am ashamed of the way it was done, the culprit was really the Governor- General Kerr, trusted and appointed by the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.  When he, the G-G, was sent a procedural motion of no-confidence in Malcolm Fraser from the Parliament to the G-G, the latter broke all legal and accepted procedure, and refused to accept it.  Fair dinkum.

By the way, when the Queen was informed she said she had been asleep at that time.  Struth.

The excuse by the Corporation’s media, which blatantly abused all measures of right and wrong according to the law and Parliamentary integrity; but also hid the absolute truth; succeeded in the change between the government of the people to a Corporation’s government because our then Prime Minister wanted to “buy back the farm”.  And they set up elaborate deceptions to support that untruth.

Subsequently, the lies and defamations that Packer served up about Gough and his Wife – Bob Hawke and any one else who spoke out against this massive injustice – were then settled out of court. Struth.  Money Gus.

The “gutter-snipe” Corporation’s media baron at that time was “Sir” Frank Packer (Queen Elizabeth the First knighted the Pirates and nothing has changed).

To say that at present we do not have the beginnings of a class war is to be as ignorant as the Murdochracy wants you to be.  This is another example of the Packer heist in 1975. 

Think reason and be logical.  The Rudd/Gillard/Swan/Tanner government and their Australian Parliamentary members are possibly our last chance to “level the playing field”.  I kid you not.

As long as the media has enough control to mis-inform you, then you do not, and I repeat, do not have a democracy.

God Bless Australia and help Rudd to give us back some semblance of independence.  NE OUBLIE.