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The votes are in, and Liberal National coalition leader Tony Abbott has secured his place as the next prime minister of Australia.
Now, if the prime minister-elect can make good on his promises, it appears the Australian mining sector may get back on track after its recent slump.
Mr Abbott says with the right policies, Australia’s once-booming resources industry can once again be the pillar for the entire economy. The first step, he says, will be to do away with the 30 per cent mining tax that some argue contributed to the sector’s poor recent performance.
During his campaign, Mr Abbott stated that this will be first on his agenda, and that mining companies can expect the tax to be removed within the first 100 days of taking the office.
“People expect the day after an election an incoming government will be getting down to business. That’s what I’ll be doing today,” Abbott told media outlets in Sydney.
Andrew Robb, Mr Abbott’s finance spokesman, said the prime minister-elect has a detailed plan for giving the mining sector the shot in the arm that it needs.
“As of today, the mining boom will be rebooted,” Mr Robb told reporters. “We will restore an appetite for risk and investment.”
By getting rid of the tax that was put in place to keep mining profits down, Mr Abbott says that billions of dollars in new mining investment will be injected into the economy. This could also lead to higher demand for workers with strong mining engineering training as the sector finds its footing.
Mr Abbott and his staff claim that by focussing on the resources sector, related industries could see a knock-on effect, which would drive the entire economy toward surplus.