WA Liberals vote to kill off $400m gold royalties plan
The WA Labor government’s contentious plan to slug gold miners with an additional $400 million in royalties is dead.
The West Australian Labor government’s contentious plan to slug gold miners with an additional $400 million in royalties is dead after Liberal MPs today unanimously voted to oppose the budget measure.
In a major victory for the mining industry after weeks of weeks of intense lobbying, Liberal MPs voted to block the royalty increase in when it comes before the upper house.
Liberal leader Mike Nahan said the decision was taken because the royalty hike threatened thousands of jobs and the McGowan government had not sought a mandate to introduce it before the state election in March.
He rubbished Treasurer Ben Wyatt’s claims that the increase was needed for budget repair.
“The public needs to be very clear: this royalty increase is not about budget repair, it is about paying for Labor’s $5 billion in unfunded and unaffordable election promises,” he said.
“It is impossible to talk about repairing the budget when the first budget you bring down in government increases spending, increases debt and increases deficit.”
Dr Nahan has wavered on the issue, telling The Australian last week the opposition could take weeks to make a decision and he would be “deeply reluctant” to oppose a money bill in the upper house.
But a number of Liberal MPs have since expressed strong opposition to the royalty hike — amid an escalating industry campaign that claims 3000 jobs are at risk — and the debate has been brought on earlier than planned.
At a rally today attended by about 500 goldmining employees outside Parliament House, Dr Nahan said Labor had promised before the election not to increase gold royalty rates and he rubbished Premier Mark McGowan’s claim that no jobs would be lost as a result.
“They do not have a mandate to do so,” he said.
Dr Nahan said the Liberals had spent the past month since the budget speaking to the industry to gauge the likely impact of a royalty increase.
“We have been a good opposition, we have looked at the facts,” he said.
“The idea that it won’t impact jobs quite simply brings into question the competence of the government on this issue.
“Your jobs, your industry, your community will be used to fund the Labor Party’s unsustainable $5 billion worth of election commitments.
“That’s the reality and that’s what I will be taking to the party room.
“There’s not a single member of the Liberal party room that doesn’t recognise the importance of the gold industry, that this will impact your jobs.”
Treasurer Ben Wyatt was jeered as he explained his rationale for the move, which would raise almost $400 million over four years by raising the royalty rate from 2.5 per cent to 3.75 per cent an ounce from January 1.
Mr Wyatt said there were other factors that had a much bigger impact on mine’s viability than the royalty rate.
The superintendent of community relations at Newcrest Mining’s Telfer mine, Ben Bryant, told the rally that the increase would wipe out the profits of the remote mine, which has high logistics costs and thin profit margins.
“I represent just one of the 1550 jobs (at Telfer) that are at risk under this royalty increase,” he said.
“My family is just one family, who will be negatively impacted under the Labor government’s plans.
“At a time when West Australians need jobs, putting in jeopardy thousands of jobs, and then denying that is exactly what you are doing is just ridiculous. “