The Guardian: Australia’s failure to act on tax transparency is at odds with miners and minerals lobby

By Christopher Knaus, 14 September 2021

Federal government accused of ‘choosing secrecy’ for not adopting the anti-corruption Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The Morrison government’s reluctance to act on a promised tax transparency scheme for Australia’s resources sector puts it at odds with major mining companies and the minerals lobby, which have voiced strong and longstanding support for the reform.

In 2016, then resources minister Josh Frydenberg pledged to join other developed nations in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which sees mining companies and governments publish details about taxes paid and received.

The scheme, adopted by 55 nations, helps to prevent corruption and ensure tax accountability by providing information on key steps in the governance of oil, gas and mining revenues, from the point of extraction, through to payments to governments.