Australia's dependance on natural resources

[Super Nova]

Time for Australia to wake up and realise that beign over dependant on our natural resources for a high quality of life needs to stop.

We need to return to being the clever country and realise that in the long run the quality of life will diminish if we don't break this dependency. It should be a plus to our benefit to add to a strong and robust, diverse economy... not the core of our economy.

The recent drop in Iron ore price and the impact on Australia revenue and GDP tell a story and what happens if other become self sufficient in many of our raw materials (food, wool, stuff we dig up)

Also, rarely do be add value to these commodities, send them over seas and buy them back as finished products.

"He said every fall of $10 in the price of the ore cost the Australian economy A$2.5bn in revenue." this fact made the news here with commentators laughing on the radio. We look like the stupid country that used to ride on the sheep's back and now the commodities market back. Bloody sad I say. We need to think longer term like the Asians and the Germans.

Time for a rethink... me thinks.

Falling iron ore prices 'to wipe A$25bn off Australia revenues'

Australia expects the plunging price of iron ore - its biggest export - to reduce revenue forecasts by A$25bn (£13bn; $19bn) over the next four years, Treasurer Joe Hockey has said.

He told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) that his May budget would be based on the anticipated price of iron ore falling further, to $35 a tonne.

Iron ore is currently trading at $47 a tonne - down from $120 a tonne in 2013.

The drop has been blamed partly on falling demand in China.

The estimated price of $35 a tonne is even lower than the conservative forecast from December's budget update, which assumed prices would fall to $60 a tonne.

"There seems to be no floor, we are contemplating as low as $35 a tonne," Mr Hockey told the AFR.

He said every fall of $10 in the price of the ore cost the Australian economy A$2.5bn in revenue.

Mr Hockey is due to present his budget on 12 May.

He told the AFR the budget would contain "a credible path back to surplus" but refused to say when a surplus may be achieved.

He also could not guarantee that the deficit may not worsen again.

He said the government would have to continue pursuing structural savings, which have included unpopular cuts to health and welfare budgets.

In a separate interview with ABC News Breakfast on Monday, Mr Hockey said there was "no doubt" iron ore prices had a big impact on the budget.

But, he said, the government would not impose new taxes to compensate for the lost revenue.

The drop in the value of iron ore has been linked to a slowdown in China, as well as to steady output from Chinese producers who are competing with major Australian mining companies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-32281858

[lisa jones]

Doesn't all this come down to sustainability?

[freediver]

So we should forgo all that wealth so that our wealth is no longer dependent on our wealth? Welcome to the smart country.

[Neferti]

So we should forgo all that wealth so that our wealth is no longer dependent on our wealth? Welcome to the smart country.

[Super Nova]

So we should forgo all that wealth so that our wealth is no longer dependent on our wealth? Welcome to the smart country.

No. That wealth should be extra wealth on top of building an economy that is not so dependant on it.

Digging up the ground should be a bonus not a dependency.

[IQS.RLOW]

The economy isn't dependant on natural resources. The country survived just fine for years when the price of iron ore was stagnant at $30/ton before 2006

It's the spending that has to be reversed. The waste in government is appalling and like any typical govt body, when revenues increase so does the propensity to add to budgets. Bringing them down is another matter because every left leaner under the sun will wail their fucking balls off at the sniff of a dollar less then they got last year.

It all started with Gough Whitlam and his election campaign which you may have thought was "It's Time" when it was really "Cry and hold out your hand"*









*royalty cheque to an ozpol poster

[Super Nova]

I agree. The government is a major force in the economy. If they depend on these revenues then we are all dependant and when they try up or go down they need to seek the revenue from us punters. Stiffling the economy.

IQ, what you are really saying is that we spen in good times and don't save and squeeze the punters in bad times.

I am saying we should not be dependant (that is government revenues) from digging up our natural resource too much and that could be done by saving it for bad times.

Then we could invest when everyone else is in recession.

It sucks that we have evolved our policies to the point where a movement in a single commodity has such an effect.

[mantra]

It's not only the heavy cost underground - it's happening under water also. Labor at least put in some protections, but in a second they're gone. The Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt is a disgrace.

Marine sanctuaries face new mining threat after permits issued for petroleum exploration

Permits that would allow industry to look for petroleum in marine sanctuaries have been quietly granted by the Abbott government while it reviews 40 freshly minted marine reserves.

The permits could lead to seismic testing in areas off the West Australian coast, where no mining exploration could have occurred if the government had not called a review.

The licence has been granted to Oslo-based company Spectrum-Geo, which wants to conduct seismic testing off the WA coast from Geraldton and the Abrolhos Islands.

.....

So-called sanctuary areas, or "no-take zones", in the reserves offer the highest level of protection and forbid any mining activity.

Pew said a fourth sanctuary area near the Gascoyne basin off the north-west coast of WA could also be impacted by seismic testing, while a further 19 permits for exploration or testing had been granted in areas on the boundaries of sanctuaries in WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal ... mlvge.html

[Rorschach]

SN have you forgotten that Australia once the richest country in the world rode then on the Sheep's back?

[Neferti]

SN have you forgotten that Australia once the richest country in the world rode then on the Sheep's back?

Boxy knows all about sheep's backs.