Vote For Opposition To Defeat Australian Mining Tax - Sydney Mining Club Chairman

29th Jul 2010 02:39

SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Voting for Australia's opposition coalition in an election due Aug. 21 is the "only one option" left to Australia's mining industry after the "cave in" deal between major miners and the government on tax reform plans, the chairman of the Sydney Mining Club Julian Malnic said Thursday. "The mining industry has been left only one option and that is to chop out the rot by embracing the very clear position of (opposition leader) Tony Abbott," who has opposed all changes to the country's existing mine tax regime, Malnic said in a statement. He strongly criticised the Minerals Council of Australia, Australia's peak mining lobby group, saying that the group had been excluded from discussions on the tax, held between senior ministers and executives of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP), and Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN). "In my mind it borders on fraudulent that the Minerals Council of Australia did not immediately fire a protest flag and say 'hang on we have been excluded'," he said. "At that moment we needed an industry response...the MCA did nothing." -By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 28, 2010 21:39 ET (01:39 GMT)