The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) said the Federal Government's failure to address the serious decline in domestic mineral exploration activity was deeply disappointing.
"The industry had been hoping that the Federal budget would fund a suite of measures including the introduction of a Flow Through Share scheme and pre-competitive geo-scientific information," said CME's chief executive Tim Shanahan.
"A Flow Through Share scheme was seen as a means of increasing a positive investment sentiment for the resources exploration sector which would have subsequently accrued benefits to not just the mining and energy sectors but also the entire Australian economy," Shanahan said.
Anne Arnold, chief executive of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies was hopeful that there could still be another avenue to attract greater revenue to the industry.
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) said that while the overriding family push of the Budget through increased benefits and tax cuts would stimulate the domestic economy, it could end up damaging the minerals industry.
"We warned from the outset of this Budget process late last year that there was an inherent danger to export-oriented, wealth generating industries such as Australia's minerals industry, that tax cuts beyond correcting bracket creep would provide a fiscal stimulus to the domestic economy that would warrant a tightening in monetary policy, thus generating higher interest rates and an inflated Australian dollar," MCA said in a statement.
The MCA also said that without increased funding to Geoscience Australia, its ability to continue to provide information to the sector could be limited.
"Without a significant commitment of funding, Geoscience Australia may well find itself a petroleum focused organization without a minerals capability," it said.
Meantime one of Australia’s pre-eminent mining identities Robert Champion de Crespigny told a forum in South Australia today that the mining industry needed to 'get out and educate', the government.
