A compromise with global mining companies by the Australian government over a proposed new resource tax, has been welcomed in financial markets.
Radio New Zealand's Sydney correspondent says financial markets were already on edge when then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd proposed a tax of 40% on the "super" profits of miners on 2 May.
The plan was to deliver a "fairer share" to taxpayers from the commodities boom.
But miners saw the tax as a cash grab and unleased an advertising campaign to defeat it.
The two-month stoush was a key factor in Mr Rudd's overthrow by Labor Party faction bosses.
New Prime Minister Julia Gillard immediately defused the row by cutting the propsoed tax to 30%, raising its trigger level and limiting its coverage to coal and iron ore.
The miners have now called off their campaign, taking some heat off the government before the election campaign.
But the tax battle is seen as limiting the chances of further economic reform in Australia.
A big element in Australia's strong economy was two decades of economic reform, firstly under the Hawke and Keating governments and then under John Howard.
However, Radio New Zealand's Sydney correspondent says some economists are now wondering whether reform is possible in the current climate of extreme partisan politics and a media more interested in entertaining people than informing them.
After this episode, the view is governments may think twice about any reform that might cost them votes.
