New book ‘102 Things to Do with a Hole in the Ground‘ spotlights global reclamation projects
Stories of reinvented coal mining regions, regenerated communities and rebuilt ecosystems are told in a new book published this month.
Mines and Money awards dinner in London.
Counting up all the services and tax breaks Australian miners receive, the left-leaning Australian Institute calculates that the industry is being “propped up” on A$4.5 billion from the federal government over the past year.
In its report Pouring More Fuel on the Fire that was released today, the institute says the subsidies were 12.5% higher in 2012 compared to the year before.
The institute lists the largest subsidies:
The subsidies are under esimated, says the report’s authors since states subsidies were excluded, as well as “. . . subsidies that go to a number of industries but cannot be broken down to show only those benefits that accrue to the mining industry.”
With miners receiving pre-tax profits last year of $84 billion, the institute says the subsidies are unwarranted.
“To put this in context, that represents six per cent of GDP, or, for every $100 of income earned in Australia, $6 went to the owners of mining companies,” writes the report’s authors.
Profits spell investment. The author’s chart the amount of money flowing into major mining projects are worth A$268 billion.
Using figures from the Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics (BREE), the Australian Institute estimates that energy and mineral projects worth $268 billion have been started or committed to.
Creative Commons image of Mines & Money London 2011
