MINERAL RESOURCES LTD —
EX GRATIA PAYMENT
1145. Hon PETER COLLIER to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I refer to question without notice
1122 asked on Tuesday, 15 October 2019.
(1) If the
Treasurer is referring in his answer to page 15 of the 2018–19 Government
Mid-year Financial Projections Statement, where is the ex gratia payment listed; and if
the Treasurer is not referring to page 15, will the Treasurer identify the page in the 2018–19 Government
Mid-year Financial Projections Statement that discloses the
$33 million ex gratia payment?
(2) Will the
Treasurer provide a breakdown of the elements that made up the $33 million ex
gratia payment; and, if not, why not?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON
replied:
I thank the Leader of the
Opposition for some notice of the question.
(1) The estimate of the ex gratia payment required at
the time of the 2018–19 Government Mid-year Financial
Projections Statement cut-off is shown in table 6 on page 15 of the 2018–19
Government Mid-year Financial Projections Statement under the heading ''Royalty
Rebates''. The amount of $14.4 million that is shown, which is also
referred to in table 3.5, on page 109 of the statement, varies from the ex
gratia approval of $33 million due to updated assumptions, including iron ore
prices, volumes and exchange rates, with the variance to be paid out in
subsequent years.
(2) The original estimate of $33 million comprised $28
million to Mineral Resources Ltd for full royalty rebate on iron ore
remaining in the Cleveland–Cliffs Inc tenement; and $5 million to
Cliffs for royalty rebate for the June 2018 quarter. As noted in the response
to part (1), the lower payment to MRL in 2018–19 will be offset by
increased payments across the forward estimates.