Australian mining far from dead and buried


That was the message delivered by Boasteel president He Wenbo to Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb, on a visit to China.

Mr Robb, the first Coalition minister to visit China since the September election, said yesterday Baosteel president He Wenbo was positive about tax changes proposed by the new government. Mr Robb said the Baosteel chief was pleased with the Coalition's promise to roll back the carbon and mining taxes put in place by the previous Labor government.

"Our first legislative move is to reduce the cost of doing business in Australia," Mr Robb said. "We have to make Australia more attractive to investment. A lot of developers have brown fields projects in Australia but they don't necessarily have to be in Australia. We have to make sure that we are competitive."

There is currently $150 billion worth of mining projects still to be developed in Australia, while the next round of negotiations between Australia and China over a free trade agreement will take place next month in Beijing.