Scissor Sister female lead singer and fire-haired bombshell Ana Matronic with dapper rhythm guitarist and lyricist Babydaddy. Photo by Jolee Wakefield

Interview first published here as part of the Sunshine Coast Daily’s coverage of Splendour in the Grass 2010 with video produced by Jolee Wakefield.

IN a makeshift tattoo studio in the off-limits media area backstage at Splendour in the Grass, journalist Owen Jacques interviewed Scissor Sister female lead singer and fire-haired bombshell Ana Matronic and dapper rhythm guitarist and lyricist Babydaddy.

During the interview Ben Milliken of Byron Bay Tattoos was inking an anchor onto the hand of acclaimed tattoo master and artist David Bromley.

Are there any bands here that you guys are excited about seeing?

AM: We just rolled in, so we are hopefully going to catch a bit of Hot Chip and all if not just a taste of LCD Soundsystem.

Where have you guys come from before here?

AM: We’ve come from Sydney where we played a show and did some promo and are off to Japan tomorrow (Saturday) … we’re going to be playing the Fuji Rock Festival up there in the mountains.

How have people reacted to the new album?

AM: Everybody has been responding really, really well, the response has been really positive and the songs when we’re playing them live have gotten a really immediate, super energetic response.

They sit in really well with our old material.

Do you think this venue is better than its Byron equivalent?

AM: You will have to ask us that after the show, definitely.

BD: It’s all about the crowd.

Speaking of which, you guys are up against Ben Harper for people’s attention tonight, is that intimidating?

BD: I think maybe a different crowd, but he’s great sooo…

AM: I think there’s only one person who should be intimidated in this and that’s Ben Harper.

There are gumboots everywhere, do you think there’s a design you guys would go for?

AM: I’m a fan of spray-painting my gumboots. Every time I’ve been to a festival with my husband, he brings dedicated can of silver spray-paint for his gumboots.

I like a little DIY, so I think people should get a little creative.

What do you think about having this interview with a tattoo parlour buzzing in the background?

AM: It’s giving me that old familiar twinge of wanting more work done. It’s like arrgghh I want to get another one! I wonder if I would get a tattoo if I was staying at a festival. It doesn’t seem the most sanitary.

TATTOOIST: It’s very sanitary back here!

AM:  I believe you run a completely sterile and sanitary shop, without a doubt. But yes, I’m no stranger to the sting of the needle.

So you’re feeling at home?

AM: I am feeling at home, in fact, I’m getting an endorphin rush just listening to it.

POSTSCRIPT: When the Scissor Sisters performed later that evening, Ms Matronic was wearing high heels and a figure-hugging red outfit that showcased a black bra.

Singer Jake Shears spent parts of the set in a rubber netted outfit before stripping out of it and gliding into a waiting white towel.

Rio Tinto Australia's Kestrel mine in Central Queensland

It’s still unclear as to whether it would be our economic Armageddon if the RSPT was put in place in mid 2012 as planned, but everyone suffers when indecision and uncertainty are rife in a multi-billion-dollar industry.

The tax was announced and the mining giants panicked and sent their bean-counters to every abacus they could find.

While their boffins were doing the sums, mining juggernauts BHP Billiton, Macarthur Coal, Anglo Coal, Xstrata and Rio Tinto threw their hands up and told the world to just give them a second.

That time, which became two months, meant no expansions were announced and few construction projects were green-lighted.

The industry production line that keeps everyone from heavy hauling trucks to engineers and boilermakers in a job were suddenly grinding to a halt.

The new Minerals Resource Rent Tax was announced on July 2 after some serious haggling from BHP, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and the government – and in the Queensland mining world, it was like spring had sprung.

Not everyone was happy and Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is still looking to kybosh the tax plan and junior miners remain concerned about not being heard at the negotiating table.

But the big miners, the ones that employ tens of thousands of people who might fly from their home on the Sunshine Coast to Moranbah in Central Queensland, are happy.

They are still doing their number crunching on how this tax will affect projects, but the smiles are there.

And when companies of this size and scope are smiling, a whole chunk of Australia smiles with them.

This column originally published on SunshineCoastDaily.com.au on July 2.

VICTORY is theirs.

The Resources Super Profits Tax that proved a poison chalice for the Rudd Government is gone, watered into a “minerals resource rent tax”.

Now Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the mining industry can both toast their mutual glory.

When Ms Gillard took office, she pleaded for a ceasefire from the blows inflicted by the mining lobby.

It was understood she would give all the consultation needed to create a worthwhile tax program for the mining firms and that it might take a long time for them to reach an agreement.

As long as it was done by today.

The 40% tax rate that so horrified the industry has been cut to 30% and the cut-in rate will be higher than what the Rudd Government set, allowing easier finance for projects.

Both the Deputy Premier Wayne Swan and our hardened Minister for Resources Martin Ferguson spent three days locked into negotiations with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.

But after so much bleating that miners weren’t consulted enough, does three days really cut it?
There wasn’t much choice for Ms Gillard.

She could not risk being stuck in a Rudd-style quagmire with the mining companies.

She needed this win and though she may appear as a leader who can get things done, when someone calls your bluff, folding isn’t usually seen a triumph.VICTORY is theirs.

The Resources Super Profits Tax that proved a poison chalice for the Rudd Government is gone, watered into a “minerals resource rent tax”.

Now Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the mining industry can both toast their mutual glory.

When Ms Gillard took office, she pleaded for a ceasefire from the blows inflicted by the mining lobby.

It was understood she would give all the consultation needed to create a worthwhile tax program for the mining firms and that it might take a long time for them to reach an agreement.

As long as it was done by today.

The 40% tax rate that so horrified the industry has been cut to 30% and the cut-in rate will be higher than what the Rudd Government set, allowing easier finance for projects.

Both the Deputy Premier Wayne Swan and our hardened Minister for Resources Martin Ferguson spent three days locked into negotiations with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.

But after so much bleating that miners weren’t consulted enough, does three days really cut it?
There wasn’t much choice for Ms Gillard.

She could not risk being stuck in a Rudd-style quagmire with the mining companies.

She needed this win and though she may appear as a leader who can get things done, when someone calls your bluff, folding isn’t usually seen a triumph.