going to big to quick. This will make the boom and bust side of things a bigger issue. More to win but also more to loose. Gentlly does it. why not settle for a small growth percentage p/a than a i want it all i want it now attitude. This is how the underlying unsaid is comming across to me. And what happens in 10 years time when there are minimal resources left because they went out to hard and to fast. probably be in the same situation as what is happening now but on a much larger scale. Sustainability is not just for the fishing industry, IMO it is for any industry that relys on natural resources. I guess it is lucky that a resource like fish can be managed and can replentish its self in time. I cant see minerals bonking each other stupid and making lots of little minerals. Makes me wonder anyway

less than 24 hrs after a deal was struck and Ginger Ninja leading our country saw the light, we have projects comming back:

http://www.watoday.com.au/business/gillard-cuts-mining-tax-deal-20100702-zr62.html?autostart=1

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-business/xstrata-reinstates-suspended-mine-works-20100702-zrs5.html

too late for some of us, most of my team already demobed and applying for new jobs, but still good news for many.

The solution they came to is a fair start for the resources industry and later can be adjusted once sustainability has been achieved in the projects / capital enviroment.

Was it a back down, not really. It was the right deal that KRudd could just not see, he forgot that negotiation is a two way street. His approach was close to dictatorship in many way.

Sorry it comes to late for a lot of folks,at least we are now back on track or at least close to the track .

Tony, it would be interesting to hear your opinions on Barneyboy's post above.

well minerals can be worth a fortune or nothing depending on the demand and market.
Many a mine has sat on it's mother load to only see the market value fall away when others find huge deposits or the industry does not need it any more. Just look at the fortunes of Copper, Nickel and Silver over the last 100 years.
WA has huge nickel resources but they worth squat in the present market. The old saying make hay while the sunhines is so true for mining.

as for running out of minerals, well let just say australia has not even looked at 10% of the potential minerals deposits. They don't drill deeper than a few hundred meters, never look outside traditional areas. It's not like the UK where it's a tiny island. This is a very old continent and very very wealthy in minerals.

You got you use your wealth wisely and cash in when you can, cause one day they may just not need your iron ore or coal, then it's worth nothing in the ground.
as for too big to quick, thats the nature of australian ecconomy... micro beer breweries are in...so every one builds one, hobby wine farms are in Margrette river is flooded with them, crayfish are high priced in Japan, we rip the guts out of that too.

This country needs sustainable cities in the north of WA, more railway links and industry centres.
JMO

oh and you need to build things besides Fords and Holdens....lol

it's not MY resources...

it's our grandchildrens....

far to often society (whether it be Pollie/ CEO/ shareholders) only thinks about the 'next financial year'

about time we changed the fundimental concept of economics and derive a far more prescient vision, a long term vision of our future

go read some David Suzuki.......

But don't forget the common denominator in life.......

population

who's talking about that subject............. 

Not looking too bad at the moment. Interesting times ahead with some of the juniors getting excited and active, within the state. I just hope we can support our mining industry in the future, or it becomes more of a loss, than a gain. 

We may rely heavily on offshore investment, to get our mining projects up and running but also we give away alot too. Ive worked in the northwest for the last 15 years, for the big players, and i must say how dissapointed I was with the industry reactions to the Mining Tax.

Anyway, I just hope that it is the elected government that runs this country, and not big business.

Why Im having a winge, I remember a time when every Building, and transportable accomodation block that was ever commisioned in any Western Australian Mining Village/Camp,, was built in Australia, whether it was a Nomads, or a Ausco, Cavalier, it was all Australian made by Australian workers in towns and cities.

I see the Gorgon Project has given away the accomodation contracts to China, through an agreemant with the government. China are making all the accomodation now,  A real crying shame!!

If we allow multiple expansion projects to rapidly take off in our state, we have to ensure that we can provide a large amount of the sub-industries at the same time, if we cannot, than we can expect to lose out on the piue, and don't try to reverse it, because America are having a very hard time trying to do just that, with their Garment/Clothing industry, which built New York, but the can't, because they are screwd, and they have done it to themselves, to each other!!!

I think its funny that people say we shouldný buy the dongas from overseas and we should only buy Australian made clothes for our workers. But then those same poeple will buy a SOunder or GPS from overseas because its cheaper. How many poeple will go and import a boat from the US because its cheaper.

The old arguement is that everyone else should support local but i'll take my dollar were it is best priced dosn't cut it for me sorry.

Support local at all cost is my opinion..

bottom line is Australian business is not competitive because of local conditions / local wages / local unions and too small an ecconomy to compete.

We either accept it or change it. Companies like Austal can build ships and export, so why can't others???

and why can I buy an australian book off an English website cheaper than I can buy it here. Same goes for many goods we have here sold into NZ and other local countries.
labour is too costly here in Ausland! the cost of grunt muscle out ways the produce it gives you.

If we only bought Aussie and did not use any cheap imports, our lifestyles would all shrink into the debt pot of high local wages and greedy middlemen etc.
JMO

I never said keep everything in-house and just by aussie made stuff. China make all those sea containers for a song, and tvs and clothes etc etc  and that is great.

But I still think the Donga making industry should stay in -house. I don't see a legitimate enough reason to all of a sudden, give it away, and please don't tell me Chevron can't pay top dollar for their accomodation Dongas like every other mining company in Australia has had too, in the past, and deal with the delays, and the Transport charges, like every other mining company has had too.  

Tony, I fully understand the five bullet points you made but still don't think that justifies allowing THIS industry to start shrinking, and let me add, when I was building camps, in the last boom, I would of jumped at the chance to purchase accomodation blocks from China, in a time when we were scouting all over the country for 2nd hand ones, anything we could find. It's definately not my favorite industry, but all the same, i don't want to see it vanish, as pitiful, greedy and dis-organised, expensive (I disagree with you on quality) as the industry is, if it goes, so do jobs/businesses in Perth. The , socially minded thing to do would beto help it, support it, and hopefully watch it thrive,  but of course you would have to be socially minded to do that, hard to achieve if government is in bed with big business.

PS tony, you cannot get a shirt made in America anymore, not commonly anyway. In 1965 the USA made 95% of there own clothes, but today it is only 5%, they gave that industry off-shore mate, why, quicker, cheaper, but not very clever because they allowed that industry to dis-appear off-shore, along with there jobs. Competetive marketing, and competetive business is great, but laws, and restrictions are required,to protect the working class and rather than the ones who can afford it, which the world, especially America, are learning the hard way, ever since the GFC. We dont have to be competetive, and build the best stuff, and the cheapest stuff in the whole world, we just need to sustain our own existing industries, especially the support industries for the mining sector, and if that comes at a higher $, well that should be a bi-product of being lucky enough to secure a "mining lease "in this part of the world, especially our waters. With the expected profit figures for the Gorgon project, there should be no reason not to support the wa sub-industries of the mining sector. If mining giants are going to continue to prosper from WA resources, support industries should not be missing out either, they can't have it both ways. 

Rod, if there is a jewellery shop on Hay st Mall selling blood diamonds in its jewellery, rather than paying premium prices from  Argyle, does that make a difference???

But im only concerned for an industry that I feel could be at threat,  an industry that is local business, or atleast used to be.

It took America 40 years to decimate the Clothing Industry, that employed alot more people, (even back then) than Australias mining support sector does today. It doesn't take long.

Austal ships can make boats and sell to whoever they want, The Chinese can make dongas and sell to whoever thay want, and the thais too for that  matter, but Im talking about a multi-million dollar accomodation contract, that imo, should never have gone abroad. This was tendered for aggressively in WA, by construction companies, it is not like we didn't want it. It had also been in the pipeline for a few years now. For a company that stands to make so much, and do so well, with government backing, and take on big challenging projects in our waters, I actually expected that both Chevron and the Government would find a way to see that contract injected into a local existing industry  that could do with it.

local greed kills local industry. Thats both buyers and suppliers and workers.

The bottom line is Australia can't even compete with European or jap products, we just have a greedy work force and greedy boss's. They all want top dollar for minimum work!
Why can I buy a top quality and best available horse float from the UK and ship it around the world to Aus for 30% less ( $4k) than a local WA made one???
With almost 1:1 dollar (aus vs us) now back on the cards we going to see cheaper USA boats again and loads of goods. Yes we can blame the exchange rates etc, but bottom line is profitability and productivity.
It goes back to a young traddie wanting to leave his school, do a year or two and then demanding nearly the same dollars as an older one with 20 yr experience under the belt.
JMO

I understand, but you can't blame the young school leaver, who wants to work.

You can't blame some kid for trying to jump on the bandwagon, especially when they are in demand, or atleast were. Supervisors out there, and  businesses, and companies charging there guys out at $80 plus, and then paying there guys $40, definately are ripping it to the consumer. JMO. There should be laws against that, against marking your guys up 100%.

Either way Billy, we forming the biggest labour bubble thats ever been and it can go on for ever! when the iron ore prices do what nickel did and head south like lead lump, then we in for a big slump in the market. Gold is going to come back soon too, cause at $1300 an ounce it is way to over valued.
This state runs on Gold, Iron Ore and Nickel + oil&gass! so far nickel has hit the wall, gold plants will be next to go and then we will be left with all the eggs in the iron ore basket and oil&gas. Oil and Gas are projects limited due to the huge capital needed, $10billion plus to get off the ground. AND I think we seeing the last of the great major projects now being build. The chances of another Pluto or Gorgon happening in the next 10 years are slim with the issues of land and development EIA's etc. I'd guess the next big Oil&Gas boom will be East Timor and not us.

With Iron Ore it's all about rail and at the moment LACK of rail! with at least five junoir iron ore developers crying for a ride on BHP, Rio or FMG's line. Without it they dead in the water!

Yes I'm sounding like a stuck record of the profit of Doomm, but we dodged the GFC bullet, and that was not a good thing if in the long run we just steam on ahead biggger, louder and higher to crash faster. Every ecconomy needs a cooling period when it overheats, but some how WA has avoid the rule, for how long??? who knows???

http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/politics/land-of-poor-white-trash-approaching-20101003-162ll.html

take away the emotion of reacting to his statement and think about it!
Are we becoming another of the Third World Country of South Asia???
Does our infrastructure match up to what we need and think we have>>>???

as for the cost of the Desal plants, Welcome to Aussie greed and lack of international design exposure. We love re inventing the wheel at ten times the costs!!!

The poor white trash are already here Tony, there are plenty of blokes who have gone to the mines and after a short time found it too hard. Of course this is after getting credit for every toy concievable. I have never worked in the pilbra or anything mine related but I admire the hard bastards that do.

I have enjoyed this post, it is a ripper. Your last point in particular, there is so much housing expansion going on here I often wonder what we will be drinking in the next few years.

Lack of rail is right, history has proven it time and time again. Build it, and they will come. I  F%$#%ing love this country, but we have infrastructuraphobia.