The Wire

The government has picked a big fight with the mining industry with its announcement of a super tax. Today Treasury boss Ken Henry has been in a senate hearing continuing to defend the tax – but the mining sector says the 40percent tax on profits could be the death knell for the industry believed to be driving Australia’s boom. Journalist Robert Macklin knows the mining world well. He co-wrote The Big Fella – a history of BHP – released last year. He’s critical of the way mining companies and BHP Billiton in particular have reacted to the tax.