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How our booming resources sector allowed the Government to dig deep. The taxes paid by WA’s booming resources sector — and the hundreds of thousands of sandgropers the industry employs have helped bankroll the raft of major improvements to the national safety net that lie at the heart of the Albanese Government’s second Budget. It highlights the crucial role Australia’s biggest export plays in boosting the strength of the national currency, which “acts to reduce domestic inflation through lower import prices”.

At Saturday night’s ball in Sydney’s Crown Casino in Barangaroo, the focus was on raising funds for his charity to research brain cancer. NRL legend Benny Elias snapped up the star lot at the auction, paying $160,000 for two days with mining magnate Gina Rinehart at the Ayana Estate in Bali. It was was billed ‘An exclusive experience with Gina Rinehart’ and will see Elias and a guest whisked away on a private chartered flight to her luxury Bali hideaway in November for a gala dinner with industry giants. The following day, another private flight will then whisk them to Port Hedland in Western Australia for another gala dinner under the stars at the Roy Hill rail site at her mining facility, before another private flight back to Perth.

Tuesday’s Budget is expected to show a slim $4 billion surplus for this financial year, which would make Dr Chalmers the first treasurer in 15 years to finish a year in the black. But let’s be clear — this surplus has far more to do with the toil of West Australians and our quirks of geology than it does any economic wizardry by Dr Chalmers. This is a surplus built on West Australian iron ore and minerals and the work of you and your friends and family to get it out of the ground, on to ships and to markets around the world.

Resources companies aren’t doing Australia a favour by investing in the country, they’re doing it because there’s money to be made, even with an increasing government take. But the danger for governments with a propensity to fiddle with industry tax regimes is overestimating their willingness to pay. It’s easily overlooked when company bosses warn that changes to Australia’s fiscal regime will force investment capital offshore and make other jurisdictions more attractive that the country still has a lot going for it.

Western Australia has been toppled as the world’s top-rated mining investment destination but remains Australia’s most attractive jurisdiction. The Institute ranks the attractiveness of the world’s mining jurisdictions by measuring their practices, mineral potential and regulatory and fiscal policies based on a poll sent to nearly 2000 people in the mining industry. WA’s drop was blamed on a drop in its policy score, which shunted it from 4th to 10th last year, as miners “expressed increased concern over its taxation regime, uncertainty regarding environmental regulations and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies”, the Fraser Institute report said.

One of Australia’s leading energy analysts says the Federal Government’s changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax means the nation has “lost its competitive advantage” in the lucrative LNG sector.Mr Kavonic warned the changes could lead to the gas industry — already reconsidering Australian investment after east coast policy intervention — thinking twice about the west coast now, too.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he makes “no apologies” over the Federal Government’s Petroleum Resources Rent Tax changes. The Australian PM defended an overhaul of the contentious tax ahead of the May 9 Budget at a press conference in resources-rich WA during a pit stop on his way home from attending King Charles III’s Coronation in London.

WA Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan will hand down the state’s budget on Thursday, with stronger-than-forecast iron ore prices and a larger share of GST revenues expected to drive WA’s operating surplus to as high as $4bn. Mr McGowan on Sunday confirmed there would be some cost of living relief, with the state’s own measures designed to accompany steps to be announced in Tuesday’s federal budget.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm has spoken candidly about the miner’s pledge to reduce emissions, saying in hindsight he regrets setting a target for as soon as 2025. Mr Stausholm backed in the big miner’s commitment to playing its part in addressing climate change while taking questions about Rio’s plans to decarbonise at an event this morning, but said it had to be ‘realistic on what it takes’.

The federal government’s tax take is poised to hit its highest level in 15 years thanks to soaring resource sector profits and inflation pushing workers into higher tax brackets. Veteran budget watcher Chris Richardson expects the May 9 budget to reveal tax revenue as a share of the economy will reach 23.8 per cent next financial year, which will be the highest level of collections since 2008.

“Australia’s oil and gas industry is already delivering increasing returns to governments as part of a broad economic contribution that will almost triple to $16 billion in direct taxation receipts this financial year while employing 80,000 workers and spending $45 billion on Australian goods and services this year,” chief executive Samantha McCulloch said.