Western Australia may ask BHP, Rio to cash out iron ore levy

Bloomberg

Western Australia may ask Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. to pay potentially billions of dollars to end a mining rent tax to help patch a budget decimated by lower commodity prices.
The state government is seeking advice on a proposal that would see the nation’s two biggest miners pay out an iron-ore levy early in a one-off lump sum, State Premier Mark McGowan said on Sunday. The opposition National Party last week said in parliament that such a plan could raise as much as A$4 billion ($3 billion) for the state, which hosts the giant Pilbara iron ore mines.
“We have a very major budget issue in Western Australia and it’s quite catastrophic,” McGowan told reporters in Perth. “We’re looking at many options as to how to address that. One of the options that has been suggested obviously is whether or not there is a buyout of the lease rental fee.”
Western Australia’s Labor administration, which ousted a Liberal-National coalition in March, faces a daunting task in turning around its economy. The government has previously said that erasing a debt mountain of more than A$30 billion will take decades.