Victorian Government duds regional Victoria with unfair gold tax for Christmas

Regional Victorian communities will pay a high price for the Victorian Government’s infrastructure cost blowouts with today’s release of a new regulation to slap a large gold tax on Victorian mines.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Treasurer Tim Pallas have ignored all sensible proposals to reform the royalty to reduce its harsh and damaging impact on regional economies and jobs.

The regulation is just the latest example of the disdain shown by the government towards hard-working regional Victorians during the long-running gold royalty fiasco.

First the royalty was announced without consultation and without warning before the Budget.

Then a fake consultation process was followed by a deeply-flawed grab bag of analysis masquerading as a ’Regulatory Impact Statement’ and deemed as containing ‘errors of both fact and logic’ by an independent economics expert.

Now by releasing the regulation after the final Parliamentary sitting week for 2019, the Government is trying to escape scrutiny for its great big new tax on Victorian mining communities.

Every gold mine in Victoria will be hit with this tax. Mines pay it if they are making a profit or not, whether big or small, and at a rate higher than WA’s royalty.

The government can run from workers and communities, but it can’t hide. Regional workers in Victoria’s gold mining industry in Ballarat, Stawell, Bendigo and Heathcote will continue to fight for a fair tax system.

Any gold royalty imposed in Victoria must be fit for purpose and deal with unintended impacts on operating mines.

It’s now up to the opposition and crossbench in the Legislative Council to delay this regulation and work to design a fair gold royalty for Victoria.

We urge Council members to stand against this unfair tax by supporting a disallowance motion against it.

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