The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) congratulates incoming Prime Minister Tony Abbott on winning the federal election.
CME looks forward to working with the Coalition Government to implement key policy commitments made during the campaign. Of particular interest to the Western Australian resources sector are the following Coalition commitments:
- The “one-stop-shop” policy to help deliver more streamlined and cost efficient approvals. Establishing bilateral agreements for environmental assessment and approvals with the states and territories will avoid costly duplication by the Commonwealth reducing involvement on a project-by-project basis, and focus more on strategic outcomes for biodiversity.
- The abolition of unnecessary additional tax costs and compliance burdens targeting the resources sector such as Mineral Resource Rent Tax.
- The implementation of an Exploration Development Incentive which will allow investors to deduct a proportion of mining exploration expenditure against their taxable income.
“A focus on reducing the cost of doing business and increasing exploration activity need to be a priority for the Coalition Government in order to enable the continued growth of the resources sector in Western Australia,” said CME Chief Executive, Reg Howard-Smith.
Given the range of issues and challenges the resources sector faces, CME is keen to see the new Prime Minister and his team deliver on their commitments made during the election campaign and to build a strong partnership with the resources sector to underpin sustainable growth in Western Australia and the nation.
The Western Australian resources sector looks forward to working collaboratively with the Coalition Government. With sensible policy initiatives such as those outlined above we will continue to see real economic benefits delivered to all Australians.
