Most Australians don't benefit from mining boom

Most Australians believe they are not benefiting from the minerals boom, according to a poll published in Fairfax and News Ltd newspapers on Wednesday. The internal research conducted for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) by UMR Research shows 68 percent of respondents believe average Australians are not benefiting from the boom, the Fairfax reported on Wednesday. Only 21 percent of voters believe all Australians are benefiting from the mining boom. The poll found 64 percent of Labor voters, 67 percent of coalition voters and 72 percent of Greens voters agreed that average Australians were not benefiting from the boom. In Australia's biggest mining states, 73 percent of voters in Queensland and 67 percent of voters in Western Australia thought most people did not benefit from the boom. The poll of 1,000 respondents was conducted in late August by UMR Research. The Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) legislation is due to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday. Australian Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan will table the package of 10 bills that aims to introduce a 30 percent tax on the extraordinary profits of coal and iron ore miners from July 1, 2012.