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Category: Business, Economics and Finance / Industry / Government and Politics / Unions

Unions join campaign against Grylls' mining tax

Wednesday, 23 Nov 2016 15:05:22 | Eliza Borrello

WA Nationals Leader Brendon Grylls wants to increase a mining production fee from 25c to $5. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)

The union movement has added its voice to the campaign against the West Australian Nationals' proposed mining tax.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU)'s WA secretary Gary Wood said he feared the plan risked jobs and could lead to pay cuts for workers.

"If there is less profitability in the company, the natural thing that employers do, much to our regret, is they then go out and pass that penalty on to employees and say we've go to operate more efficiently," he said.

"It just gives another reason why they can reduce numbers ... it puts stress on the employees."

WA Nationals Leader Brendon Grylls has proposed charging Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton a $5 rental fee for every tonne of iron ore they produce, up from the current rate of 25 cents a tonne, which was set in the 1960s.

Grylls 'unsurprised' at union stance

Mr Grylls said he was not surprised by the union's position, given the Labor Party opposed his plan.

"You would expect the union to fall in behind the West Australian Labor Party, that's what they always do," he said.

"At the end of the day this special lease rental was set in 1960, it's never been changed.

"The unions certainly wouldn't want their wages set in 1960 to never be changed, the West Australian people shouldn't expect the special lease rental to be set in the same way."

But Mr Wood has questioned Mr Grylls' motives.

"Is it just a political thing that Brendon Grylls is chasing for his own publicity, or what is it?"

"Is it real, or isn't it?"

Sovereign risk warning

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman, who introduced a coal royalty increase while he was at the helm, has warned the tax poses a significant sovereign risk.

He told the ABC he sympathised with why Mr Grylls was looking for a new revenue stream, given WA's weakened financial position.

But he argued the plan posed double the sovereign risk of the increase he introduced in Queensland.

Mr Newman said his changes only kicked in when prices were strong, whereas Mr Grylls' tax would be levied on all iron ore produced — regardless of what the market was doing.

Mr Grylls congratulated Mr Newman on lifting the coal royalty but said he would not take political advice from him.

"He turned the biggest ever electoral victory in Queensland into the biggest ever defeat in three years," he said.

WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Reg Howard-Smith welcomed the contributions of both the CFMEU and Mr Newman.

"The opposition to the West Australian [Nationals'] proposal for this tax has been universal ... and this certainly adds to this diversity," Mr Howard-Smith said.

"From time to time we obviously have our differences with the CFMEU but the one thing that they understand, the one thing that we understand, is around loss of jobs."

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