Why do we subsidize the mining industry

[colic2bullsgirlore]

to the tune of 4.5 billion dollars a year??

Why does the same "excuse" for not subsidizing the vehicle manufacturing industry not also apply to the mining

industry

It appears to me that any infrastructure the mining industry develops ie roads or railways..... have a mine at one end and a Port or refinery at the other

...... and are built for the express purpose of profit and expediency that ultimately benefits... the miners themselves.

.....especially the Uranium mining industry given Australia's unique position of holding more than 90% of the worlds Uranium raw product reserves... it's not like they can mine Australian ore anywhere else??

.... Just like mining towns are developed to lure miners and their families closer to the mines...that really only

maximises profit under the guise of "good citizenship"

http://thehoopla.com.au/mining-profits-facts/

The paper emphasizes that a large percentage of profits will be reinvested in Australia.

But a lot still makes its way overseas. Of the $37 billion profit to foreign equity owners in the 12 months to 31 March 2011, $7 billion was paid overseas as dividends or income withdrawals. Seven billion!

Some think this is state-sponsored theft. Others understand that without heavy overseas investment, the mining industry with the employment it provides and the taxes it pays, would be under-resourced at best and non-existent at worst.

Perhaps Australia would find a more acceptable middle ground if some of the handouts to the miners were subjected to some soul searching. 

Since 2009, the WA Government for example, has given miners $9.2 million under an “Exploration Incentive Scheme”.  

Gina Rinehart pocketed nearly $39,000. Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest took nearly $62,000.

Last year Ms. Rinehart grew nearly $1.9 billion richer. If would take her just over a minute to earn the $39,000 she took from the West Australian taxpayers.

http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/ending_fossil_fuel_subsidies.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Western_Australia

http://www.railpage.com.au/news/article-5777/

http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/ending_fossil_fuel_subsidies.pdf

The fact is that the Latrobe Valley now disused Coal mine fires is a shining example of how miners  dump us once

the profitability is gone from the big hole in the ground....

[k0llectable5]

Colic said "The fact is that the Latrobe Valley now disused Coal mine fires is a shining example of how miners  dump us once the profitability is gone from the big hole in the ground...."

Then Monman said "How did that come into the debate? As for relevance/facts  I would like a few apropos the Morwell open-cut brown coal mine and the small section that  is burning because I fail to see any here"

Hi guys 🙂 

I am so new to all this "mining" debate, but feel it relevent to me personally as I live in the Latrobe Valley very close to the disused part of Hazelwood mine that continues to burn out of control after 12 days.  There is 3km of disused mine on fire, I kinda fail to see how that can be considered a "small" (in your words Monman) section. 

I know this thread is about subsidising (of which I know very little about) but what I do know is that the only station covering anything to do with the fire for the first week at least was ABC.  No one can tell us what is in the ash that continues to cover most of the town.  CDF Suez spokespeople say otherwise but the general consensus by CFA and police spokespeople is that the fire fighting structures (pipes, sprinklers etc) had all been removed and either reused somewhere in the working part of the mine or sold for scrap metal a few years back, had they been in place this fire would've been much easier to fight.  And most importantly as for the carbon monoxide levels present in the air some "officials" are says there is none others say and report CFA workers have been hospitalised because of exposure to such high levels while trying to fight the fire.  Now (and again sorry for digressing here) how can they say that there is no carbon monoxide in the smoke that covers the town when we are all breathing in the same smoke that the CFA members and firefighters are breathing in? 

[boris1gary]

froth, i think it's a play on words and has been used quite regularly even if it isn't in the dictionary yet.

[boris1gary]

secondhand-wonderland, your not really digressing so it's OK, it must be horrible for all of you there not to mention scary. 

[boris1gary]

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@*mrgrizz* wrote:

Gina doesn't want anyone to have money.......her own children included.

i meet her many years ago she is a horrible woman........she is more man with a lot less wo

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mrgrizz, i read what her own father had to say about her, extremely unpleasant person in all ways.

[freakiness]

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@icyfroth wrote:

"Epidemy" should be epitome lol. But doesn't matter.

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I think it might be a word especially invented for Gina.  

[k0llectable5]

Boris it's like nothing I have experienced ever in my entire life.  I've been around bushfire affected areas, but this is something so different, the smell and the ash it really does make you feel sick.  People are not over exaggerating for wanting to flee the town, or at least get their children out.  

And this is not the first time that this mine had caught alight, 2010 saw it burn for 2 days due to Black Saturday fires.  So why havent proper fire fighting structures been put back in place untill now?

[boris1gary]

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@secondhand-wonderland wrote:

Boris it's like nothing I have experienced ever in my entire life.  I've been around bushfire affected areas, but this is something so different, the smell and the ash it really does make you feel sick.  People are not over exaggerating for wanting to flee the town, or at least get their children out.  

And this is not the first time that this mine had caught alight, 2010 saw it burn for 2 days due to Black Saturday fires.  So why havent proper fire fighting structures been put back in place untill now?

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This probably sounds lame and a waste of time but has there been any attempt of talking to any media about it, or even contacting the Greens to see if they can help getting some factual information.

[lakeland27]

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@silverfaun wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

mining is the industry which destroyed all of our others. they need to compensate the rest of the country.

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huh?

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what drove the dollar up ? 

[colic2bullsgirlore]

Monman the reference to the Latrobe minefield fire pertains to the fact that volunteer firefighting aasociatioons bare the

brunt of the firefighting effort.

The mines previous nor present owners will find no profit in fighting fires in or around a derelict mine.

The owners of the antimony mine that i mentioned will find no profit in reinstalling the findings mine wall that contually seeps **bleep**nic into the Macleay,

Bellingen and Nambucca river catchments.

The prior owners of the now (well and truly) closed Antimony processing plant at Urunga profit's and any real chance of

recompense to the now advocated Bello council "cleaners" of the site appears at best extremely remote.

A local "quarry" that "amazingly" struck a huge vein of gold still struggles to fill the potholes on a road that prior to the

escalation of extraction coped beautifully with the "local" traffic only exemplifies their true platitudes to the local

environment.

I made a big mistake before re Australia's Uranium worth but I note that your source quotes "known" deposits

[icyfroth]

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@boris1gary wrote:

froth, i think it's a play on words and has been used quite regularly even if it isn't in the dictionary yet.

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Oh. ok. as in epidemic. got it now. thanks, gary.