The current mining boom driven by Global Free Trade is setting Australia up for an almighty crash. Mining is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global warning. The mining boom is destroying sustainable industries like agriculture, manufacturing and domestic tourism by making labour costs prohibitive. 

Our politicians like to call us the clever country but I don't see anything very cleaver about the way we are going at present. We are allowing the world to treat us like the colonials treated the natives in the 1800's - swapping coloured beads for gold. Australia is giving up its mineral resources and swapping them for consumable junk. Mining is very important to Australia, but the rate of expansion of this unsustainable industry must be limited now to avoid a calamity when the bubble bursts or when the global community forces us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or be banned from participating in global trade. Mining and foreign investment  have become the heroin of the Australian economy, sooner or later we will have to go cold turkey and it is going to hurt like hell. Responsible government would ban any expansion of the mining industry, minerals not mined now will still be there to mine in the future, when they will be of greater value. Isn't our government interested in the future? Governments encourage "responsible drinking" rather than binge drinking because of the social consequence of this activity, why not encourage responsible mining rather than binge mining? Has the Australian government given up our sovereignty to Global Free Trade? Our state government has developed the act now website to encourage us to be more careful with resources while their own State of the Environment Report  indicates that the natural environment is suffering from the mining boom.

The mining boom and associated population increase threatens to destroy what makes WA a great place to live, something in which I declare a vested interest. The boom is making housing unaffordable and increasing the social divide within Perth as well as the city-country divide. There is so much potential for Australia to reinvent itself as a renewable energy economy if only our politicians will allow the the scaling back of coal mining. In future the coal could well be worth more in manufacturing processes than as an energy source. Renewable energy projects have the potential to replace the jobs lost in mining. How much released carbon dioxide is one job worth? If John Howard & Kevin Rudd had been around when the flush toilet was invented would we still be using dunny cans to keep the night cart men employed?  Both major parties claim the "strong economy" is a product of their management at national and state levels. I'd suggest that it has more to do with the fact that Australia happens to be lucky enough to be sitting on minerals that China currently wants, but the environmental cost of the boom is going to be paid for by future generations.

I'd welcome someone in authority to explain any error in my logic. If what I've written makes sense to you, then you might be interested in the following pages Farmers Markets , Organic Farming, Permaculture and Slow Food  . If you agree with the ideas expressed here, please feel free to link to any of these pages from your website, this way you are helping to spread an alternative view to that which is being run in the mainstream commercial media! If your website is relevant to the content of this site I'll happily provide a reciprocal link.

Barry Green, Managing Director, Western Tourist Radio barry@touristradio.com.au