Amid the rising prices of gold expected to peak at $2,300 an ounce, the Greens are pushing for the inclusion of gold in the proposed mineral resource rent tax (MRRT). The party estimates that gold would add $1.8 billion to government coffers in the next 10 years.

The proposal would be pushed by the Greens in the government-organized tax forum on Oct. 4 and 5. The proposed MRRT is limited to ore and coal.

""Reflecting Australia's status as the world's second-largest producer of gold after China, if the original mining tax has not been abandoned in 2010, gold would have contributed even more," Greens leader Bob Brown told Australian Mining.

He said the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have criticised the non-inclusion of gold to the MRRT and said there is no justification for the precious metal's exclusion.

The Greens are also in favor of bringing back the resource super profits tax (RSPT) which imposed a 40 per cent tax rate on all resources. Mr Brown said the RSPT gave Australians a fairer return on the country's mineral wealth.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard ditched the RSPT in 2010 when she took over from former Labor leader Kevin Rudd and negotiated instead a 30 per cent MRRT with the three largest mining companies in the country.

The Greens said the MRRT represents a $100 billion revenue loss for the government over the next decade, while opposition leader Tony Abbott estimates the loss at $140 billion.

"Why shouldn't we be properly taxing the current resources boom, where the money is largely otherwise going to flow overseas, to ensure that Australians get the proper supply of money for their services, the way the public expects," Perth Now quoted Mr Brown.

However, Mr Brown said the Greens would not block the MRRT but would still push for inclusion of gold because the taxes to be generated could be used to fund smaller-scale projects.

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