Our economy is in decline... that is the truth... the mining boom is well and truly over so the one thing that kept us going during the hard times will never be there again to keep us afloat.
I understand that mining is the industry that is always in the news. I understand that the mining industry pours millions into marketing itself as an indispensible part of our economy. I understand that the people running the industry are influential because they are rich. And I understand that people like Alan Jones are personally going to be affected when the his mining shares peak and start dropping some time in 2014.
So I can understand why anyone who doesn't know any better would assume that we are doomed because the mining industry is so unstable and will soon do it's slow drop down to reality.
BUT.
Mining only contributed 10% to our GDP in the last financial year.
As a comparison - Tourism contributed the same amount. Even our sad and sorry agriculture industry (with subsidiary industry figures included) contributed MORE than 10% to our GDP.
And whilst the mining boom has certainly affected the Western Australian government in a big way, the profit isn't a deal breaker for the rest of the country.
Its a bit like saying that the whole country would go bust after Sept 11 just because the tourists stopped flying to Sydney. Nope! The reality was that it had a major impact on NSW government revenue but only caused a minor ripple for the other states and for the nation as a whole.
I would also like to point out that thanks to the mining boom, the value of the Australian dollar has been over inflated and this has adversely affected other industries such as manufacturing and tourism.
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