http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/tony-maher/ Tony Maher is the National President, CFMEU en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-carbon-tax-wont-kill-the-economy-greedy-miners-will/ The Australian economy is in danger of being torn apart by the resources boom. The high prices being paid for our minerals, the unprecedented foreign investment to dig up those minerals and the rising value of the dollar are already reshaping our economy.  This is only the beginning. It will end, all booms do, but this one will take some time and it will bring great change. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tony Maher) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-carbon-tax-wont-kill-the-economy-greedy-miners-will/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-carbon-tax-wont-kill-the-economy-greedy-miners-will/#item6909 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:25:29 +0000 Tony Maher | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bloody-huge-profit/ It’s a management case study that will live on in textbooks for decades. Just weeks after banning employees from leaving post-it notes on computers or eating lunch with strong odours, resources giant BHP has announced a whopping great profit of $A22.5 billion, up 85.9 per cent. Of course it wasn’t only the absence of messy post-it notes that pushed profits into the stratosphere. There was also the company’s nation-wide crackdown on jackets slung over the backs of chairs. Oh, and record prices for Australian coal, iron ore and gas. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tony Maher) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bloody-huge-profit/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bloody-huge-profit/#item6569 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:50:33 +0000 Tony Maher | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10.6-billion-profit-leaves-plenty-to-go-round/ Last year BHP helped prove that crying wolf works, provided you crank the volume up to 11. Along with the other mining giants, they managed to convince Australians that paying anywhere near a fair amount of tax would somehow cripple their companies – and the nation. We know now how the scare campaign played out: a Prime Minister was rolled, a new one installed and the Resources Super Profit Tax became the Mineral Resources Rent Tax. Within 24 hours this week, in what can only be attributed to a divine act of timing, Australians have discovered how much mining wealth the nation lost and how quickly it’s made by those who squealed so loudly. Yesterday, BHP Billiton announced half-year net profits had surged 72 per cent – to $10.6 billion dollars. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tony Maher) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10.6-billion-profit-leaves-plenty-to-go-round/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/10.6-billion-profit-leaves-plenty-to-go-round/#item5152 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:00:05 +0000 Tony Maher | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/xstrata-is-just-playing-chicken-with-the-government/ If 3,250 jobs never existed, can they still be used to batter a government over the head and frighten the bejesus out of mining communities? That’s what Swiss mining giant Xstrata is testing this week. There’s been much hysteria about Xstrata’s announcement it will suspend and review two Queensland projects. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd fought back, boldly describing Xstrata’s announcement yesterday as ‘passing strange’. Here are some better descriptors: arrogant, cynical, bullying, fear-mongering. Anyone involved in the mining industry for any length of time knows how to take this kind of announcement from a mining company, with a big grain of salt. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tony Maher) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/xstrata-is-just-playing-chicken-with-the-government/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/xstrata-is-just-playing-chicken-with-the-government/#item3242 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:59:59 +0000 Tony Maher | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-a-resources-tax-can-build-a-better-nation/ Pssst? Heard about the good tax? Hopefully after the release of the Henry Tax Review this weekend you will. It’s called the Resource Rent Tax and, for those of us who want to see the development of frontier mining towns into sustainable communities, it is a thing of beauty. It is always reassuring to hear the mining industry cry poor when new ideas are put forward to share the benefits of the resource boom. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tony Maher) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-a-resources-tax-can-build-a-better-nation/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-a-resources-tax-can-build-a-better-nation/#item2942 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:50:54 +0000 Tony Maher | Author bios | The Punch