Australian PM determined on mining tax

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday said she will not be changing the minerals resources rent tax (MRRT) she negotiated with big resource companies last year, despite pressure from the Greens to make the mining tax even harsher. The Australian Greens on Thursday released a report showing the MRRT, which replaced the resource super profits tax proposed by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, would reap up to 120 billion U.S. dollars less revenue over nine years than under Rudd's plan. However, Gillard told reporters in Canberra the government is determined on the MRRT, and it would deliver the MRRT legislation to parliament later this year. BHP Billiton on Wednesday night posted a full-year net profit of 23.5 billion dollars, up 85.9 percent on the previous year, but opposition resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane said the coalition remain opposed to the tax. Gillard urged opposition leader Tony Abbott to force the mining industry to share the benefits of the mining boom. "Is this really a time for anybody to come to this parliament and say the MRRT should be opposed ... in view of the profitability of mines and the pressures we know on other sections of the economy because of the high Aussie dollar?" she told reporters in Canberra on Thursday. "That is a strategy for wrecking." The MRRT is a proposed tax on profits generated from the exploitation of non-renewable resources in Australia. The tax, levied on 30 percent of the "super profits" from the mining of iron ore and coal in Australia, is proposed to be introduced from July 1, 2012.