Resources Rent Tax

It's weird - I mean the mad monk's persistent and illogical opposition to everything proposed by anyone except the ultra right.

It's like the stuff that spew’s out from his thinking processes has first to navigate a logic filter. As they hit the filter the good ideas get sent back for re-consideration - while absolute rubbish gets passed through as a great idea ;-)

Or I assume they are his thinking processes - they might just as easily be the bits he discards during his daily ablutions.

In particular the dim-witted thinking that seems to be going on within the right on the supposed "Resources Rent Tax" that may or may not be a part of the Henry tax review.

Can someone please explain to me why we wouldn't want to properly tax the extraction of minerals that are mined within our borders? No I thought not. Of course we would want a proper tax regime around these minerals - otherwise we would be just another ripped off third world country - raped and pillaged by the resource giants.

At the moment the states have a tax regime in place on the minerals that are extracted within their boundaries - and like all things to do with the states it is a dog’s breakfast and needs to be brought into the 21st century. And it is clear that the states can't do it.

This is an area of taxation policy that I hope Ken Henry has looked at and has come to a considered and logical view on. And if he has then it should be a consistent Australia wide tax system that is managed and collected by the Federal government. And if the Feds feel like it they might want to send some of that back to the states - as if.

But to suggest - as the mad monk and his cheer squad in the Murdoch press do - that a properly constituted resources tax is a bad thing is just hogwash - plain and simple.

Unless of course he is doing the bidding of the resource giants?