The Australian govt is not in the business of controlling prices. And increasing the tax rate will only serve to drive offshore money away from Australia.
The simplest solution is for a reduction in production due to low prices. RIO boss stated last week in Perth that 85 mill tonnes of capacity came out of the market in 2014. A further 85 mill tonnes a year is expected over the next 2 years, mostly from China, Indonesia and Africa. At these prices, though, a few of the Australian miners MAY go in care and maintenance. e.g. Karara, Koolyanobbing, Mt Gibson, AGO and BCI. If FMG can sell an asset (say 30% of their rail and port facility for $3 bill), and then re finance $2.5 bill in debt, they will be fine. Basically, anyone without rail access to the closest port of their production or production that isn't DSO, will be struggling to keep the doors open.
