- Australia's conservative government earlier today repealed an unpopular tax on mining company profits, fulfilling a pledge made during last year's national election and handing Prime Minister Abbott a political victory while pleasing the country's big mining companies.
- Abbott believes the repeal, alongside the scrapping of the Labor Party's carbon tax in July, will convey to overseas investors that Australia would be more amenable to business interests.
- "This will be a positive step for investment and good for jobs in the mining sector," Rio Tinto (RIO -0.2%) CEO Sam Walsh says.
- The tax was complicated and focused on iron ore and coal miners of a certain profitability level but certain rules allowed miners to use prior capital spending as a tax deduction; BHP Billiton (BHP -0.5%) paid $200M in mining tax in FY 2013 and $24.8M in FY 2014, but it is believed all payments by Rio were refunded by the tax office.