Top Australian miners face steep tax hike
West Australian legislator targets Rio Tinto and BHP, saying they are paying their fair share in taxes
Perth — The world’s biggest mining companies producing iron ore from Australia are not paying their fair share in taxes, according to a legislator who wants a 20-fold rise in a state levy that has been unchanged since the 1960s and the era of imperial pounds, shillings and pence. The proposal has "overwhelming" support and Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton’s objections do not stack up, according to Brendon Grylls, Western Australia’s Nationals party leader. Grylls is championing the drive to raise the lease rental payment, levied on ore from the two miners, to A$5 a tonne from 25 Australian cents. "It is quite clear to me that Western Australia is not receiving a fair recompense for making our iron ore available," Grylls said on Tuesday. Western Australia is home to the world’s largest iron ore mining hub, with cargoes from the Pilbara feeding Asia’s mills. The plan by Grylls’s Nationals, a junior partner in the state’s ruling coalition, has met with opposition from Rio and BHP, who ...
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