BHP, GST and what the hell's going on?

So NOW we see BHP come alive & push for WA's fairer slice of the GST?

Corporate Social Responsibility is a thing and it affects a share price greatly as well as other things whilst doing business. If your reputation is bent, its pretty hard and very costly to straighten. That could be the case here.

At the centre of this is the dodgeball effect of pushing the GST now so as to build support & credibility in WA, amongst WA citizens whilst hoping to further put the 25 cent Mining Rental Fee in history's dark recesses.

Facts remain...

1. Its only NOW that BHP cranks up about WA's GST.
2. BHP is not an Australian company. Less than 20% of its shareholders are from Australia. The "Big Australian" is not Australian, its foreign owned & it has behaved like a ruthless foreign corporation & may have been hoping to do the mining equivalent of plunder the diamonds and ivory of a poor African nation with stealth & ruthlessness.
3. Why is a foreign and very wealthy mining corporation even telling us & the rest of Australia what to do with our GST allocation? Fiduciary duty. Its in the best interests of their company, their shareholders and their profitable perpetuity. THATS IT, THAT'S ALL
4. The profitable cut off point for ore is apparently under $40/tonne, that's US Dollars by the way. Yet the Mining Rental Fee, set at 1960s levels of 25c would damage their profitability & cost hundreds of jobs if it were raised to $5.00?

Now just stop, profitable at below $40/tonne the current Rental Fee is 25c Australian. That means the fee was waived the first 15 years & since then the Rental Fee is still (US$) 19c a tonne.
And its a tax deductible cost of doing business.
Compare that US$40/tonne vs US$0.19/tonne.

You bet they want to push the GST wagon now. It affects where part of the tax they pay goes, but not how much they pay. It makes no difference whatsoever to BHP's tax bill each year where the GST goes. NONE. So why do it? To reclaim lost reputation and potential share price nervousness.

If the Mining Rent Fee went up to AUS$5.00/tonne just remember that's Australian Dollars. The Iron Ore Price is in US Dollars so in US$ we're talking about a tax deductible rise from 18c/tonne to US$3.80.

As I type, the Iron Ore Price is US$62/tonne. So that'd take them down to That's bring them down to $58/tonne...whilst they'd still be profitable at below $40/tonne.

Want to see some of the figures?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-21/bhp-billiton-returns-to-profit-thanks-to-commodity-price-surge/8290794

So what is fair? Well that varies from day to day if you're a rich foreign mining company.

If you're a sovereign state like Australia its a little simpler, if you're Western Australia its very elusive when the eastern seaboard get the better end of the stick.

For any reputation to be regained, BHP would have to spend dollar for dollar or better on a GST correction campaign as they did opposing the Mining Rental Fee rise. Fact remains, in either case we have a serious case of Sovereign Over Reach by a wealthy foreign company.

We do need an inquiry into the depth & breadth of involvement of all corporates, domestic & foreign who participated in the recent WA State Election by way of funnelling funds to oppose the Mining Rental Fee and the very expensive advertising campaign against the fee and against Brendon Gylls.

Its not about getting Grylls his seat back, that can't happen. Its not about vengeance, that's futile an infantile. Its about establishing if a powerful an rich corporation or corporations did help influence who did and who didn't get into OUR State Parliament.

When 3000 extra voters suddenly enrol in Grylls seat, 16 times higher than the average extra enrolment & neighbouring electorates were on the average around 1%, questions have to be asked without fear or favour if we're to know with certainty our political system is above foul foreign breach.

For more on the facts surrounding the Mining Rental Fee go to...

http://seriouslythinkforaminute.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/raising-rental-fee-from-25c-to-5-myths.html

If you want to see fairness or wonder what I think it looks like, it has to include these.

1. An inquiry into the possible foreign intervention in our electoral system & the result. We are not a corrupt banana republic...or are we?
2. A rise in the Mining Rental Fee to AUS$5.00 (US$3.80)
3. A fairer system for allocation of GST to all states...not all states other than WA.

We need to await results of the inquiry (that we probably won't have) and make recommendations for much harsher penalties for corporations that seek to influence election results.
It may turn out to be that the "Big Australian" is not just "not Australian" but may prove to be very Un-Australian.

Oh we won't forget Rio in all this. BHP & Rio combined are a very rich, foreign owned, highly powerful & influential mining plutocracy. We're ripe for the pickings and the Liberal/Labor Duopoly have to date all the appearance of being most compliant.