Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has accused the federal government of handing down undue advantage to Australian mining giants in order to win support for its mineral resources rent tax, which aims to collect some $11 billion over the next decade.

According to FMG chief executive Neville Power, the announcement on Tuesday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard that she wants the country to resume uranium trading to India inevitably opened up a lot of questions.

One of these, Power said, is the possibility that once the Australian ban on uranium sale to India has been lifted, it will reap huge benefits for the Olympic Dam uranium operation of BHP Billiton, which along with Rio Tinto and Xstrata, have agreed to support the controversial mining tax.

While admitting that his accusations could not be backed by any solid evidences, the FMG chief insisted that he cannot help but be puzzled by Gillard's sudden turnaround on Australia's stand against India acquiring materials for its nuclear program.

Gillard has stressed that the policy change is meant to improve trade and security relations with India, an emerging economic power and currently one of Australia's major customers for its mining shipments.

However, Power is questioning the timing of Gillard's actions, which came at a time when the government is pushing doubly hard for the MRRT to be passed by the Parliament before 2011 ends.

"There was a deal done between BHP, Rio Tinto, and Xstrata with Julia Gillard to bring MRRT in ... and three companies have not said a peep about MRRT," Power was reported by News.com.au as saying in emphasising his suspicion about Gillard's new stance on uranium sale with India and her tax deal with the so-called Big Three of the mining industry.

"Perhaps it's got to do with development of Olympic Dam," Power added, referring to the South Australian uranium mining site of BHP Billiton.

In a statement, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan suggested that mining firms should refer to the Minerals Council of Australian submissions, which essentially declared that "the bulk of MRRT liabilities will fall on larger miners with more profitable projects," prior to making any speculations about the tax and other government policies.

"The Australian people know that the mining sector is booming, in full knowledge of the mining tax, and that it's vital we spread the benefits of the boom to all corners of our country," Swan told News.com.au.

Yet the FMG chief appears far from being convinced by the government's handling of the MRRT, which he described as Gillard's way of "blaming mining for doing too well."

Power called on the government to instead focus on implementing policies that encourage overall economic growth and "not try dragging back the mining industry."

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