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  • More fiddling with MRRT figures exposes Swan's surplus claims

    12/05/11

    Wayne Swan has fiddled with the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) figures yet again, but still expects Australians to believe his ever-shifting tax will deliver the Labor Government its elusive surplus, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Ian Macfarlane said.

    “Budget papers show the revenue from the MRRT will be down by $5.9 billion from the figures the Government released just three months ago,” Mr Macfarlane said.

    “This is beyond a joke. The Gillard Government’s budget, and its claims to be able to dig its way out of debt, are built on a house of cards.

    “First Kevin Rudd’s resources tax was going to raise $12 billion, then the Treasurer pulled out all the stops to convince us that his pre-election backflip on the MRRT shaved off just $1.5 billion, before conceding that his backdown had slashed $7.5 billion from the bottom line. It later emerged that the black hole was more than $100 billion.

    “Then days before Christmas Treasury sources suggested the revenue could be less than $5 billion, and finally Treasury figures released in February showed the revenue from the MRRT would be $17 billion over a three year period from 2012-13.

    “But the figures in the Budget add up to just $11.1 billion over those three years.

    “Treasurer – where is the missing money? And how can Australians take you at your word when the most fundamental figures underwriting the budget are slashed every few months?

    “The Gillard Government is relying on the MRRT revenue to bail it out of its extraordinary debt and deliver the much-promised surplus in 2012/13.

    “This latest revision to the MRRT shows the extent of the Government’s incompetence and the scale of its attempts to dupe Australian families.

    “The Gillard/Swan Government keeps reaching into the pockets of hard-working Australians to fix its growing list of policy mistakes.

    “All the while it is attempting to pass off a budget that is missing the key figures relating to the carbon tax, as well as constantly shifting figures for the mining tax.

    “For all we know, Mr Swan may slash the MRRT revenue figures yet again in a matter of weeks.

    “With their over-reliance on a hastily pulled together tax grab on the mining sector, Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard are running the risk of cementing a structural deficit into the budget.

    “If Wayne Swan can’t even stick to a set of MRRT figures for more than a few weeks at a time, how can he expect to have any credibility when he repeatedly assures Australian families that he will deliver a surplus?”
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