Miners, retailers to fund anti-MRRT ads

A group representing junior to mid-tier miners says it will recommence television, radio and newpaper advertisments targeting the federal government's planned minerals resource rent tax.

The United Retail Federation and the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) also plans its own advertising blitz to fight the MRRT.

The National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia (NARGA), which represents about 4,500 members including IGA and Metcash but does not speak for Coles or Woolworths, has also expressed its concern about the tax saying it affects more than the mining sector.

The Association of Mining & Exploration Companies (AMEC), today revealed the first of several anti-MRRT TV advertisements it plans to run in the next three weeks.

AMEC chief executive Simon Bennison said the first of the new AMEC ads would screen this week.

Mr Bennison said AMEC would do "whatever is required to get a result".

"They've all come to us," he said.

"If the Prime Minister thinks that the mining tax issue is dead and buried, she is wrong," said Mr Bennison..

But he would not say how much the advertising campaign will cost.

NARGA chairman John Cummings said uncertainty surrounding the MRRT had dented consumer confidence, which had dampened retail sales.

"Uncertainty is the biggest thing that the retail sector fights," Mr Cummings said.

"If we're facing uncertainty ... that uncertainty comes straight to the bottom line of our businesses.

"It affects the number of people we can employ and it affects the economic activity of every suburb in every city and every town throughout Australia.

"It's not in the spirit of free enterprise."

QCCI president David Goodwin said "a tremendous drop off" had been seen in engineering work in Queensland.

"A new giant tax is not going to stimulate jobs, it's not going to stimulate growth in industry," Mr Goodwin said.

Proteus Engineers director David Sutton said the tax couldn't have come at a worse time as the economy was just starting to emerge from the global financial crisis.

"It's a bad tax - very bad for our clients," Mr Sutton said.

"We would like to see the whole process started again."

Meanwhile, Treasurer Wayne Swan said that a relaunched advertising campaign is part of a political agenda focused on the election,

Mr Swan said he and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson were being genuine in their consultations with smaller miners over their concerns about the MRRT.

"Their concerns are ones that we do take on board," he told ABC Radio while in Perth.

"But parallel to that process we have got some people out there who are running a political campaign and a political agenda in the context of the election, particularly with the advertising."

Mr Swan said most of the smaller miners he was talking to were not involved in that "partisan campaign".

"What we've got with the MRRT I think is a pretty broadbased agreement across the mining industry."

Mr Swan said the Labor government would institute a regional infrastructure fund that would see $2 billion go to WA, particularly to assist mining communities facing challenges.

Meanwhile the Liberal Party would introduce a company tax three per cent higher than that offered by the Gillard government, he said.