Mining tax ad hotline a 'misleading' dead end

WHAT happens when you ring the information number at the bottom of the government's $38.5 million taxpayer-funded advertisements on the new mining tax?

WHAT happens when you ring the information number at the bottom of the government's $38.5 million taxpayer-funded advertisements on the new mining tax?

If The Australian's experience is a guide, you certainly won't get any information, and you might even be told you are calling the wrong people. "It's a misrepresentation in the ad" is how one call centre supervisor responded yesterday.

When The Australian called the 1800 hotline (which operates only in business hours) to ask about basic details of the tax, we were first told, "We are solely to do with the Henry review. I am sorry; you need to call the tax department."

But wasn't the super-profits tax the government's version of the resource rent tax contained in the Henry review? "Please hold," said the phone operator, who, after a pause, said she could send me a copy of the Henry review but "we aren't trained to elaborate on the review details".

"We are not familiar with it; we only send out copies of it," she added.

But wasn't she familiar with the super-profits tax, as explained in the ad with her number on it? "Sorry, no," was the answer.

The supervisor wasn't any help either. Why couldn't we get information about the mining tax by calling the number that appears at the bottom of the print ads? "Unfortunately it does," the supervisor said. "It's a misrepresentation in the ad."

So were many people calling and being turned away? "Yes indeed."

Given that the justification for the new $38.5m ad campaign has been the need to inform the public about the new tax plans in the face of an industry scare campaign, the inability of operators on the 1800 number to provide any information at all will be extremely embarrassing for the government.

Last night, The Australian contacted the Prime Minister's office for comment but the office handballed the question to the Treasurer: "That's something for Swannie's office," a spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Wayne Swan said staff were supposed to direct people to the website or offer to send out fact sheets on the new tax. "The need to increase public awareness is the key reason why we are conducting an information campaign," he said.