[LINK] This makes me angry.

[Frank O'Connor]

Any way you look at it, the current mining boom isn't good for Australia as a whole:

It's not good for my brother, a West  Australian cray fisherman, who has to pay a premium for inexperienced deckhands (the experienced ones having drifted off to the more lucrative mines), and either accept written down values for his exported crays (if the contract are written in American dollars) or fewer sales (if the contracts are written in overvalued Australian dollars)

It's not good for my cousin, a Queensland farmer, who sells directly into overseas markets through his local agribusiness ... for the same currency based reasons. (The high dollar hasn't stopped his massive fixed costs from increasing though.)

It's not good for the local communities that host the mining boom, because fly-in workers add little in the way of value to the communities, but the mining company proximity means that real estate and other values sky-rocket making them unaffordable for locals (farmers, bushies etc)

It's not good for our manufacturing and service industries that rely on overseas contracts. For example an Australian accounting firm that is the local arm of a major accounting conglomerate is now 85% more expensive to run than it was 5 years ago ... which means that the conglomerate reduces employment and removes the Australian operation from its 24/7 operations processes. Hey, better to do the work in the Philippines or Hong Kong.

I've seen four or five mining booms in my time. With all the attendant economic side-effects. Each one is initially viewed as a major bonanza, then as a state of affairs that will never end, miners become the heroes of the hour, then the boom that will never end ... ends, and we all have to pick up the damn wreckage yet again.

Given that very little of lasting economic value has accrued to Australia, and most of the profits have been repatriated to overseas shareholders ... this can be a very expensive exercise.

So, it grates when miners get huge subsidies, It grates when they ask the government to put in motion huge infrastructure projects that benefit only them, funded fro the taxpayer dollar. It grates when some miners admit to paying no tax, but are still in line for the handouts. It grates when efforts to retain some of the profits of said miners are overturned by inexpensive PR and media campaigns. And it grates when idiots put the miners on a pedestal, and assume that it's all good for us ...

On a side note: Ross Gittens has an interesting piece in The Age/SMH today at: http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-case-to-slow-down-the-mining-boom-20120401-1w6j0.html ... which may be of interest.

Just my 2 cents worth ...
---
On 02/04/2012, at 9:44 AM, Richard Chirgwin wrote:

> Mike,
> 
> The ABS, here: 
> http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6291.0.55.003Feb%202012?OpenDocument
> ...puts 242,000 in mining.
> 
> That's still a lot of subsidy per-head for an industry that is growing 
> so strongly.
> 
> RC
> 
> On 2/04/12 9:34 AM, Michael Skeggs mike at bystander.net wrote:
>> Wikipedia allows that mining employs 129,000 Australians.
>> That $3b subsidy equates to $23k per job.
>> Could that $23k be better spent alternatives such as training or other
>> means to enhance our international competitiveness, or is the smart
>> thing to do subsidising diesel?
>> I would suggest that a "paltry" $3b makes no difference to whether the
>> mines are built, but could make a significant long term difference by,
>> for example, sponsoring 20,000 engineering degrees each year.
>> Regards,
>> Michael Skeggs
>> 
>> On 2 April 2012 08:45, Craig Sanders<cas at taz.net.au>  wrote:
>>> On Sun, Apr 01, 2012 at 09:13:30PM +0200, Martin Barry wrote:
>>>> It's also not clear why those jobs would be in jeopardy without the
>>>> subsidies. The mining companies can't just pick up the mine and move
>>>> it to another country.
>>> oh, but they threaten to do so - "give us what we want or we'll go rip
>>> off some other country for their resources!"
>>> 
>>> <ratbag>
>>> let 'em go if they insist, i say. voluntary abandonment is much cheaper
>>> than nationalising the mines :)
>>> </ratbag>
>>> 
>>> craig
>>> 
>>> --
>>> craig sanders<cas at taz.net.au>
>>> 
>>> BOFH excuse #55:
>>> 
>>> Plumber mistook routing panel for decorative wall fixture
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Link mailing list
>>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>> _______________________________________________
>> Link mailing list
>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link