Monday 4 July 2011

FFS! Is Abbott for real?


When I first heard this masterful piece of economic nonsense last Thursday I couldn't believe my ears.
When asked about foreign mining companies and the money they derive from Australia's non-renewable resources, Tony Abbott said; "We’ve got to remember that foreign investors take millions out of our country but they put billions in first"
It seems Abbott refuses to recognise that he has no capacity for basic economics.
Rio Tinto alone produced net profit after tax of A$37.4 billion in Australia in the 10 years to 2009. That's about 3.74 billion annually that it probably took home to head office in a brown paper bag.
As for the tax these multinationals pay, well that's quite frankly laughable.
In the 2007-08 financial year 4,290 mining companies had combined incomes which totalled $160,323,192,189 with combined taxable incomes of $29,010,243,407.
Net tax actually paid was $8,068,463,15 after all allowed deductions had been made.
Of course the royalties mining businesses paid in the past were all tax deductible, and as exporters these same companies get such a whopping collective GST refund that it all but wipes out the financial impact of money paid in taxes by the industry as a whole.
Any fool can see that foreign mining companies are on a sweet deal here. So what does that make Tony Abbott - a specimen lower than a fool or simply a Lib?

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