Rudd rejected mining truce

Rejected ... Kevin Rudd turned down an offer

from the president of the Business Council of Australia, Graham Bradley, the night before he was brought down as prime minister. Photo: Getty Images

BIG business offered Kevin Rudd a truce in its war over the mining tax the night before he was brought down as prime minister.

Mr Rudd rejected the offer from the president of the Business Council of Australia, Graham Bradley, which has not previously been disclosed.

It was a potential lifeline for a leader under siege from the miners, the opposition and the Right faction of his party.

Julia Gillard challenged her leader the next day, declaring an immediate renegotiation of the tax plan, a major victory for the miners.

The truce with the mining industry was her most urgent act as prime minister. The Gillard government more than halved the amount of revenue to be collected from the miners. The tax remains to be legislated this year.

Mr Bradley's offer came in a private conversation outside the Senate alcove on the evening of June 22 last year, immediately before Mr Rudd addressed a Business Council dinner.

Mr Bradley told Mr Rudd: "We will use all our influence to get the miners to pull their ad campaign - and I think we can - if you are prepared to set up a better consultation process to work this through."

The biggest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, are members of the Business Council. Mr Bradley had been in intensive discussions with their leaders, the BHP global head, Marius Kloppers, and Rio's Australian managing director, David Peever.

"It would be good to get this off the front pages and sort it out rationally," Mr Bradley said. But the prime minister rejected the overture. He said: "My door is always open. It's not me that's hurting the country - it's the mining CEOs. They would rather bring down the government than come and talk."

By that time Mr Rudd was in advanced negotiations over a compromise with Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Metals Group, another big miner, who had not taken part in the public campaign against the government.

Mr Forrest has since said that he was on the cusp of a deal with Mr Rudd at the time the prime minister was cut down.

At her first news conference as prime minister, Ms Gillard said on the mining tax: "Today, I will ensure that the mining advertisements paid for by the government are cancelled. And in return for this, I ask the mining industry to cease their advertising campaign as a show of good faith and mutual respect. Negotiations will occur with the mining industry."

The Greens plan to amend the Gillard government's tax to try to increase the revenue received from the miners, and yesterday it found support for this move from the International Monetary Fund.

The fund suggested the government broaden the scope of the tax beyond iron ore and coal to cover other mining sectors.

The government insists it is not open to any increase in the tax: "A deal is a deal," the Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, told the Herald. "We will not be breaking our word over this with the mining industry and the wider electorate."

Mr Rudd yesterday attacked the former Labor minister Graham Richardson, who has been saying Mr Rudd's supporters are organising a quixotic challenge against Ms Gillard: "Is Mr Richardson taking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year at the moment in salaries to go out there and bag the Labor Party and Labor government every day? Probably. In fact, definitely.

"Is Mr Richardson doing as he's always done in the past, go and act as some sort of unofficial spokesman for the factional bullies in our party who try to control it from time to time?

''Undoubtedly.''

Authors: mining - Yahoo! News Search Results