Did the Australian Government play a role in bringing down another nation’s tax on mining profits?

Following concerns raised by Mongolian Greens, Bob asked questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs about what representations had Australia made to Mongolia regarding mining and the taxation of mining? The Minister provided the following answer in Hansard:

“The current Australian Government has made representations to the Mongolian Government that a stable regulatory environment is essential to attract foreign investment and would be beneficial to Mongolia’s economic development. Such representations have been made, for example, during visits to Mongolia by Australia’s non-resident Ambassador and in meetings with Mongolia’s Ambassador to Australia.

In a meeting held on 22 July 2009 between the Hon Stephen Smith MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr Damdin Tsogtbaatar, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Mongolia, Mr Smith said Australia would like to see an investment agreement for the Oyu Tolgoi mine progressed by the Mongolian parliament.”

Why was Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs so interested in this particular mine in being progressed?

The Oyu Tolgoi mine is located in the South Gobi region just north of the Chinese-Mongolian border. It is owned by Rio Tinto, Ivanhoe Mines as well as the Mongolian Government. Prior to proceeding with the development, Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe mines were lobbying intensely to remove the windfall profit tax. The tax had been introduced in 2006 on copper and gold amid a mining boom that saw metals prices hitting record highs.

In August 2009 the Mongolian Government cancelled the windfall profits tax clearing the way for a final investment agreement for the $US3 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project.

The question that remains unanswered is whether this was the outcome that the Foreign Minister had been hoping for when he spoke to the Mongolian Ministry in July, just one month before the tax was cancelled?

The Questions on Notice also revealed that Australia provides aid support for mining in this part of Mongolia.

In 2008 AusAID provided $100,000 to the World Bank to assist development of an Infrastructure Strategy for Southern Mongolia (where the Oyu Tolgoi project is located). Supporting the development of this strategy, a delegation including 11 senior Mongolian Government officials, four private sector officials and three World Bank representatives undertook a study tour to Australia in November 2008, focused on mining infrastructure in Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and Western Australia.  In 2008-09, Australia provided $500,000 to enable the start-up and capacity building of an independent mining sector policy think tank in Mongolia.

Link to an article in The Australian newspaper about this story

Bob was working to keep human rights and democratic reform on the agenda when the Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Australia in late June.

Bob held a media conference with Mr. Chin Jin and Mr Pan Qing of the Chinese democracy  movement and Migyur Samkhar from the Australian Tibetan community, to raise the profile of these issues in Parliament.

Vice President Xi's is expected to succeed the current President Hu Jintao's in 2012 and a new leader in China represents an opportunity for reform - but only if the international community keeps the pressure on China to undertake reform!

In the media conference Bob said, "A change of leadership in China is the chance to embark on long awaited democratic reform and the introduction of free elections,"

"It is also represents a chance to initiate a peacefully negotiated settlement with the Tibetan people.

Bob was concerned that Mr. Xi was only meeting with mining company representatives while in Australia and he called for him to also meet with other Australian worker, community and democracy representatives, including the Federation for a Democratic China, the Chinese Liberal and Democratic Party and the Australia Tibet Council.

An opinion piece by Mr Chin Jin, " How China harmonises the West"
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10584

The obvious question facing Tasmania's 25 newly elected members of the House of Assembly is how to give Tasmania its best possible government for the next four years.
All 25 want Tasmania to prosper. All 25 want to enhance its environment and lifestyle. All 25 want to work for better health, education, policing, transport and housing. The differences are of degree or priority and these would be best sorted out in a cabinet most widely representing all 25.
Logic is strongly on the side of a cabinet made up of the best talent from all three parties. So for a cabinet of ten, from a House with the parties contributing 10-10-5, that would mean 4 Labor, 4 Liberal and 2 Greens. If the chosen cabinet representatives from each party got together in a room without minders you can be sure they would safely work out the allocation of portfolios and the all-important issue of the forthcoming budget.

He was a mentally unstable father of five living on the streets of Poland when he was unwittingly lured to smuggle 4kg of heroin into China, say the relatives of Briton Akmal Shaikh, who was executed by lethal injection at the end of 2009.

Shaikh had travelled to Urumqi in 2007 on the promise that he would be made into a pop star with his song Come Little Rabbit, which he imagined could bring about world peace.

After a half hour trial in 2008 he was convicted of drug smuggling and handed the mandatory sentence of death.

Laurie Oakes: What's wrong with the way asylum seekers are treated in Indonesia at the moment? What sort of ground rules do we need?

Bob Brown: Well, from the newspaper reports, they're imprisoned in pretty appalling conditions compared to that which Australia - Australians generally would - accept. I hope that, ah, Prime Minister Rudd will be calling on his Indonesian counterpart, in Thailand, to sign the international refugee conventions which guide basic ground rules for fast processing of asylum seekers - sending back those who are not genuine, but ensuring a future away from the threat that they've fled for those who are genuine.

Lobbyists for the big polluters are crawling the halls of Parliament every day, but ordinary voters haven't had the same access or influence. Until now.

The Rudd Government was elected with a mandate to face up to climate change. Yet the legislation they've created locks in climate failure. It currently promises $16 billion to polluters, penalises ordinary Australians for reducing their emissions and sets pollution reduction targets way too low to stop climate change: just 5% by 2020.

The Greens Senators are facing up to climate change with the Safe Climate Bill. Now it's your turn - how will you face up?

Pemba Dorjie Sherpa, the world's fastest climber of Mt Everest, was in Canberra yesterday making a plea to Australia to reverse climate change which is melting 40 Himalayan glaciers on river headwaters upon which one billion people rely.

But, as I've just told the BBC, the Rudd government's bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 5 per cent by 2020 would help lock in dangerous climate change (and accelerate the melting of the world's glaciers).

On Saturday 13th June, a national rally is being held in most capital cities around Australia. All five Greens Senators will be speaking at or attending rallies across Australia tomorrow calling for the CPRS to be scrapped and replaced with swift action to reduce emissions, drive renewable energy and create green jobs.

• Bob will address the Melbourne Rally, 1pm, State Library
• Christine will address the Hobart Rally, 12 noon, Parliament Lawns
• Rachel will address the Perth Rally, with Scott also attending, 12.30 pm, Forrest Place, Perth
• Sarah will address the Adelaide Rally, 11am, Victoria Square

‘Clean coal', like a healthy cigarette, does not exist.

I recently came across this stellar little ad for ‘clean coal' by Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen and thought it was worth sharing.

A few years ago I travelled with Bob to Blackwater QLD, the coal capital of Australia, where he spoke to the local council and community on the urgent need to move from coal-fired power to clean renewable energy sources.

On the way to Blackwater, we stopped by the site of what was touted at the time as Australia's foremost ‘clean coal' project ZeroGen - it turned out to be an empty paddock.