Greens spokesperson for Small Business, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that the mining tax repeal delivers a massive blow to the small business sector.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “This massive win for the mining companies comes at the expense of not just worker’s superannuation, but is also a body-blow to small business.

“The mining tax repeal has made the two million small businesses in Australia losers, just to benefit a handful of mining giants.

The Abbott Government and coal-mining billionaire Clive Palmer have done a deal which will see the Palmer Party and Coalition join forces in the Senate to repeal the Mining Tax.

So what was the deal?
Repealing the Mining Tax in exchange for the Palmer Party Senators allowing the Abbott government to make a cash-grab on the retirement savings of one in three workers to the value of around $27,000 or 15% of their expected retirement savings.

Greens Leader Christine Milne says the Palmer United Party has done a mean and tricky deal with the Abbott government to turn down revenue and give a big win to mining magnates around Australia.

"Instead of getting a fair share from the big end of town that can afford to pay, coal mining billionaire Clive Palmer has done a tricky deal and put the pressure back on workers and families," said Senator Milne.

"Champagne corks will be popping in mining company boardrooms while Australian workers will face less money for their retirement.

The Australian Greens are urging those at tomorrow's Cabinet meeting to abandon Tony Abbott's brutal budget, saying no sales pitch can hide the fact that this government's obsession with propping up the fossil-fuelled past is making life harder for ordinary Australians and deterring investment and job creation.

The Australian Greens say communities will lose out now, and in the future, if the Abbott government totally abandons the carbon price and mining tax.

"Tony Abbott will go down in history as the Prime Minister for the big end of town. He's shamelessly making life harder for everyday Australians to boost the profits of the big miners and big polluters," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.

Just over 80% of growth reported in today's new GDP figures have come from the mining sector, so Australian Greens say it's time to fix the mining tax to return a fair share of profits to communities.

"These GDP figures reinforce that there is no budget emergency. The Abbott government is choosing to let big miners off the hook, while trying to justify oppressive, cruel cuts," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.