The Minerals Council of Australia is supporting the minerals resource rent tax. Mitch Hooke, chief of the council, told a Senate hearing in Canberra on Tuesday that the proposed 30 per cent tax on profits of large coal and iron producers is workable.

The measure was approved by the House of Representatives in 2011, but is pending before the Senate.

"We still have work to do in mitigating the adverse consequences and the unnecessary complexities to the compliance costs.... But this is a much better designed tax, notwithstanding that it was not necessary in the first place," Mr Hooke said.

In the same hearing, Mr Hooke debunked charges that the mining boom is the cause for the axing of thousands of manufacturing jobs for causing the Australian dollar to remain strong which makes company exports less competitive in the global market.

He said that while the strong currency influenced high commodity prices and the mining boom is causing major changes in Australia's economy, Mr Hooke pointed out that the boom was also boosting employment in related industries.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that 41,400 jobs in the mining sector were created from June to November 2011, while for the same six-month period, 43,800 manufacturing jobs were lost. Since the start of 2012, several Australian companies have announced the lay off of hundreds of workers due to the strong currency and weak consumer confidence.

RELATED STORIES