Mining bull Buxton responds to Aussie 'supertax'

The proposed new tax on ‘super-profits' generated by Australian mining companies has seen the mining sector fall heavily again today.

Clearly if passed in its current form the tax will raise marginal tax rates substantially and reduce post-tax profits available for dividends or investment in new projects. Unsurprisingly, mining companies have reacted angrily, pointing out that the long term nature of the industry and its capital investment in projects requires a fair and stable fiscal regime, warning that this could affect their decisions on where to invest globally. Unfortunately it is indicative of how far we have come in the decade-long boom in commodity prices that governments now feel justified in looking to in...