The Wire

After a little more wrangling, the Gillard government is has secured the support of the three independents needed to pass the mining tax. But the Greens have warned that they won’t tolerate a watered down version of the tax.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has given the government his support in return for exempting profits under $75 million.The tax had already become much more modest since the first proposal for a mining tax was put forward by the former Treasury secretary Ken Henry.The tax will only collect revenue from coal and iron ore mines, exempting owners of gold, alumina, uranium, copper and other metals.