Rudd’s super tax backfires

Kevin Rudd is fighting for his political life with his u-turn on an ETS, and his proposed super mining tax both backfiring. A Nielsen poll just out has Labor at 47% on the two party preferred poll and the Coalition at 53%.

The super mining tax appealed to Labor. They thought everyone would support it, as only a dozen companies or so would be paying it. The tax would be a massive 40% of any profits above the risk free rate of return. Yes, how dare a company make a profit greater than what you can get by sticking your money in the bank.

But it has backfired massively. Western Australia especially has seen it as an attack on the entire state, plus (unlike NZ) many Australians know how important the mining sector is to Australia’s prosperity and have rejected the tax.