EUREKA FOR THE TREASURER BUT NOT FOR THE MINERS
Member for Western Victoria Region, Bev McArthur used an adjournment debate in parliament to seek assurance from the Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, that no jobs in regional communities will be lost to the new tax on gold.
The mining industry supports more than 88,000 jobs in Victoria and plays a fundamental role in the economies of regional communities. Thousands are employed in the manufacturing of engineering equipment and technology used in mining, not to mention the countless small businesses that these employed households keep open.
Bev McArthur said "the Ballarat Gold Mine spends about $55 million each year and employs over 200 people. These workers spend their income in the cafes, the restaurants, the local shops and the countless other small businesses across Ballarat that employ people themselves."
Bev McArthur said “rather than supporting this industry, the Labor Government sees its recent growth as an opportunity to further prop up its fake budget surplus, by implementing a gold tax for the first time in Victoria’s history.”
Bev McArthur said “the Premier bragged last month that unemployment in Victorian regions was at an all-time low. Does this government seriously believe that this gold tax will not compromise this?”
“Victoria’s wealth and history was built on the back of gold.”
“Gold miners have always been championed by Labor as heroes for standing up to the Miners licence tax – they would be horrified to see what the ‘Workers Party’ have done now.”
Bev McArthur said “There is no better testament for this government’s complete ignorance and carelessness for people living beyond the tram tracks of Melbourne than this new tax.”
19 June 2019