Steelmaker says it was excluded from tax talks

Tuesday, 15 June 2010 09:38

In a sign that the Government just doesn't get the wider impact of its super tax, one of Australia's major steel manufacturers was blocked from the so-called consultation.

The Australian reports that "the Rudd government twice rejected requests from steelmaker and iron ore miner OneSteel to join the super-profits tax consultation process to complain about the threat the proposed regime poses to the future of its South Australian steelworks."

The article says "In probably the most extraordinary display yet of the depths of industrial ignorance that informed the construction of Kevin Rudd's resource super-profits tax, OneSteel's initial attempt to meet the government's consultation panel was rejected on the basis that the company had no place in a dialogue over the shape and impact of the tax as it was a manufacturer, not a miner. See the full story in The Australian.