OCR Text |
Show 12 - State that owns the minerals, licenses the prospector, grants the lease, charges the royalty, and generally determines the conditions under which a mine can be opened and operated. The federal government licenses mineral exports, generally regulates foreign investment, collects taxes, and remits tax proceeds back to the States as it deems appropriate. Today the Labor Party controls by narrow margin the federal government. State governments in Queensland and in Western Australia where we operate are controlled by those in strong opposition to the Labor Party. Utah Development enjoys very good relations with the State governments where we operate but we can make no such claim for our standing with the Minister for Minerals and Energy in Canberra, one Mr. Rex Connor, an avowed Socialist and proud of it. The Minister has made no secret of the fact that he does not like us and he is quick to speak of us in critical and intemperate language but at the same time he is careful not to make his case. We are told that he dislikes us because our operations are primarily in Queensland and in competition with his constituency in New South Wales, because we are the largest, most efficient, and most profitable coal producer in Australia, and because we are foreign owned. He has refused to give us assurances that export licenses will be granted to us if we open up a fifth coking coal mine at Norwich Park, although he has stated that Australia will honor our right to export the whole 400 million tons presently covered by our agreements with Queensland. More recently he has threatened us with a "super tax" apparently designed so as to affect only UDC, which raises the ethical and legal questions of discrimination. |