Rio Tinto Exec: Wants Assurance Any Deal On Proposed Australia Tax To Hold Post-Election

30th Jun 2010 07:22

PERTH (Dow Jones)--Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) Iron Ore Chief Executive Sam Walsh on Wednesday said he wants an assurance that any deal between miners and the Australian government over the proposed resource super profits tax will remain valid beyond a Federal election, which could be held as early as August. Walsh told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio that he is hopeful of a speedy resolution to the talks. "If a deal is put together, then we've got to have the assurance that it will carry through post the election, if the government is re-elected," Walsh was reported as saying outside a function in Perth. Last week, Walsh declared that the proposed tax, as originally envisaged, is "dead" following the appointment Thursday of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Walsh also described as "curious" comments yesterday by Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU), which claimed former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was close to striking a compromise deal with miners over the tax that included several generous concessions to the industry. As far as Rio Tinto is concerned, the comments by Fortescue Chief Executive Andrew Forrest, "came out of the blue and I don't think anybody was truly aware that those discussions were under way", Walsh said. -By Stephen Bell, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 61-8-9244-4243; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 30, 2010 02:22 ET (06:22 GMT)