25th Mar 2014, 2:01 PM – Senate Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal and Other Measures Bill 2013 - Second Reading - Read a second time

The majority voted against a motion to read the bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages a bill must pass through here. )

This means that the majority disagreed with the main idea of the bill and that the bill will no longer proceed.

Background to the bill

The bill was first introduced into the House by Treasurer Joe Hockey to repeal the minerals resource rent tax ('MRRT'), which the Coalition called the “mining tax”.(You can read more about the MRRT here. ) The tax began 1 July 2012 and applies to profits earned from the extraction of mineral resources such as coal and iron ore. Its abolition was an election promise of the Coalition during the 2013 election campaign.(You can read the Coalition's policy here.)

The bill also repeals the schoolkids bonus, the income support bonus and the low income superannuation contribution.

References